The Protectors
by electrogirl88
Summary: The wolf: friendly, loyal, and compassionate. The fox: cunning, clever, and a quick thinker. What happens when you put the two together? What happens when you find out you aren't the only protectors to a tribe? Jacob is the one who'll find out. JacobxOC
1. Introduction

Through out history there have always been Native Americans. And through out that history the land has always been truly theirs. Along side these people there have been animals, and the land also belonged to them. Most tribes believe they were born from somewhere. Some tribes believe they were born from wolves, others believe they could be born from the bear or cougar. The numbers dwindle now though, and not many believe in the ones they were born from. Instead of being proud about their heritage they hide it, and keep it a secret; because of this secret though tribe are protected and kept alive. But now something is happening. These protects are disappearing, and its not because people dont believe any more. Something is causing it. Something is killing them.

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My eyes burned from the salt water that was in the air. I happened to wondered upon this little town that was near the ocean. It was a nice place. Where I came from there was nothing but the forest as far as the eye could see, so Id never been near the ocean. Yes, there were bodies of water, but an ocean was always different. My nose twitch as a breeze picked up and I caught a whiff of the ocean once more. Even though my eyes burned, I knew I would never tire of the smell. Stealthily I trotted along the sandy shore, enjoying the way the sand felt beneath me, and the world around me. It was like nothing I had felt before.

Once more the breeze picked up and like before the oceans scent was carried with it, but there was a new scent. It barely took me a second to recognize the scent. The smell of smoke wasnt strong, so I knew it was just a campfire or house fire. Using my noise I followed the scent and was able to pick up the smell of cooked meat, along with another line of food related scents. My stomach growled as it announced its hunger and its need to eat some of this delicious smelling food. For a moment I was able to resist, but the cunning part of my heritage kicked in and I couldnt stop myself.

Crouching low to the ground, I maneuvered through the tall grass that grew along the shore. My coat blended perfectly with the golden grass so I knew I wouldnt be seen. On light feet I moved through the grass until I came upon the little barbeque that had the delicious aromas coming from it. The group of people were all around the campfire. They were a rather large and loud group. By large I didnt mean the actual size of the group, I meant their physical size. The group mostly consisted of guys, and there looked to only be a couple of girls. Keeping one eye on the group, I made my way to the picnic table that was covered in food. Without moving too fast, I got up on the table and sniffed around.

There was every kind of chip you could possibly find in a grocery store here, along with every flavor of dip for them. There was an array of different deserts, all kinds of meat, and in the cooler near the table there was at least a hundred cans of soda. This group wasnt small, but this seemed like way to much food for their size. It seemed like enough to feed an army. Focusing on my target, a rather juicy hamburger, I maneuvered across the table and made sure not to step on any chips that were strewed across the table. The group seemed too preoccupied to notice me, so I thought I was in the clear when I dragged the hamburger off the plate. I made sure not to touch anything but my meal, because some people could be such freaks about animals touching their food. Although I dont know who could blame them.

I was in pure bliss while eating my hamburger. That is until I was interrupted with a, "Hey!" Spinning around I came face to face with a very tanned face. As soon as my eyes connected with his he instantly froze up. All he did was stare at me as I quickly prepared myself do dash.

"Jacob, what is it?" Someone asked, and with that I bounced down the table and off the end. From the corner of my eye I saw someone leaping towards me, as if to grab me, but as soon as my feet hit the ground I darted to the right. Which effectively made the guy fly over me, as I dashed under him. Somewhere behind me I heard him tumble around, but I couldnt check because I came face to face with another large boy. Usually people stay away from wild animals. Not these guys, oh no they just had to try and catch them. Idiots.

"Come on now, were not gonna hu-" I quickly turned to run in the other direction, but there was another one. Everywhere I turned there was someone there blocking my path. They had me surrounded. My animal instinct kicked in and I started growling at them. I wasnt sure what to make of these people. Most of them had friendly expressions on their faces, or curious looks, but a few had serious expressions and their arms crossed in a stern manner.

"What are you guys doing? Sam?" A womens voice spoke from outside the circle of boys. A man off to my right looked over his shoulder, and said something, but then looked back at me. The look on his face made me nervous and I growled at him. A light chuckled escaped him, which made me look at him curiously. Something told me that these werent your ordinary boys. So I sat on my haunches and studied them carefully. My mind tried to pick through information and see if I could figure it out, but it was no use. All I knew was that these boys werent normal.

"Alright we got 'im. Now what do we do?" Asked one of the boys with a friendly look. There was a smile on his face as he looked to the man who had spoke with the women. I watched the two of them carefully and focused my hearing on them. The moment they made to hurt me I wanted to know.

"Its just a fox. I dont see why we stopped it in the first place. We should just let the stupid thing go!" Someone growled from behind me. Spinning around I tucked my tail between my legs, somewhat, and looked at the guy. His muscles bulged through his shirt since they were crossed and he glared down at me. His look was so hateful that it made me begin to tremble. A boy close to him seemed to growl a quiet warning which drew everyones attention to him. "Whats with you?"

"Dont insult her like that," the boy growled out, his expression just as hateful as the guy who was staring at me. My ears perked up as I heard someone else approaching the group. Whoever it was though wasnt walking, because I couldnt hear their footfalls in the sand.

"Alright let me have a look...well well a cunning trickster," an older looking man spoke in a friendly manner, "You boys know you wont be able to keep her long, right? Shes a quick thinker and wont be kept here. Now whats a pretty thing like you doing here all by yourself?" With some difficulty the man rolled himself further into the circle and closer to me. When he made his way into the circle he had forced the boys to move, which left an opening. The old man was curious though and I couldnt bring myself to make my escape. When the gap disappeared my ears fell in a sad sort of way.

"Billy I dont think-"

"Oh stop it, Sam. If she was going to do any harm already she would have, and if she wanted to run she would have. Now dont worry honey none of us are going to hurt you. A normal fox would have stayed far away from humans, but you didnt. Which means you most likely arent from around here... hmm interesting."

"Whats that suppose to mean?" The man, Sam, questioned the old man, Billy. Billy gave him a look from the corner of his eye, but soon focused back on me.

"It means that there is more here than the eye can see. Come here honey." My eyes dashed to every member of the group as I hesitantly approached Billy. I got the distinct feeling that Billy was the only one here who trusted me, and I didnt want anyone here to hurt me. When I was standing in front of Billy he patted his legs, with a smile on his face. Without ever thinking, I put my front paws on his legs. Sam took a step forward and my ears flattened against my head in a frightened manner. I moved to back away from Billy but he started rubbing the fur under my neck, so I took that as encouragement to stay. "Now no wild fox any where would have fur as soft as this. Nor have I ever seen a fox with blue eyes like yourself. Is there something you want to share?"

Every muscle in my body tensed at Billy words. My eyes were locked with his as I tried to read his expression. There was nothing but kindness in his eyes, and his gentle stroking under my neck and atop my head showed that same gentleness. I wanted to give in and tell him the truth, but I was so scared. I couldnt handle the rejection. Fueled by my fear, I jumped onto the armrest of Billys wheelchair and then leapt over the heads of the boys. Then with a burst of speed I was running down the beach. I didnt look back and just kept running. After awhile I dashed into the forest and didnt stop until I came to the tree I was living in. My mouth hung open as I took in as much air as I possibly could.

My mind wondered back to Billy and what he had said. He was obviously Native American, which meant he might believe in his heritages legends. If he believed in his own legends, maybe he would be able to believe in mine. For almost a month I had stayed in the form of a fox, I dont know how it would feel to change back. My fear is what kept me from doing anything with the unknown.

With one last sigh, I forgot about everything that had happened and prepared myself for sleep. Curling up in a tight ball, I hid my face under my tail and closed my eyes. Instead of being greeted with darkness, I was faced a certain staring boy I had seen earlier.


	2. The Hunter

Every piece of greenery in the forest was dripping from the rain storm, that had poured over night. I, myself, was no exception to staying dry. I was drenched to the bone and shaking like a leaf. There weren't drastic changes in whether where I was from, there I actually had time to prepare. So now I was wet, miserable, and my stomach was growling at me. Lifting my nose to the air I tried to sniff out some prey, but the rain had washed away the scents. My day was just starting off so perfectly…

The only option I seemed to have was to wonder around aimlessly. I was sure to stumble upon something then. How wrong I was. The foliage around me was like nothing I had experienced before. Everything was so distracting with their vibrant green colors. There were different smells, different looking plants, and different animals. Every time I stirred up some prey I was too busy studying a plant I had never seen before, or taking in the scent of certain trees. At one point I tried to focus feeding myself, but it was no use.

Eventually noon rolled by and I was still off in my own world, and hadn't eaten anything still. Reining in my curiosity, I focused and started to hunt for prey. My sense of smell wasn't picking up on anything, so I closed my eyes and used my ears instead. For a few moments all I heard were the birds chirping around me, but way off in the distance I could hear the distinct sound of a bell. My curiosity peaked because their shouldn't have been a bell ringing in the middle of the woods. On quick and light feet I darted after the sound. It was all I focused on as I jumped over fallen trees and avoided making any branches on the ground crack. The wind whipped through my fur, and my nose was assaulted with an array of smells. It took me about ten minutes to find where the sound was coming from, but I was quickly rewarded.

In the middle of a small clearing there was a white rabbit. It hopped in every direction, but seemed to be fixed to move for only a certain distance. Inching a little closer I was able to see that there was a bell around the things neck. Every time it jingled the sound would echo into the forest for what seemed like forever. If I'd been drawn here by the sound I knew others would. There was bound to be a hawk or an owl around somewhere. They'd have this rabbit killed real fast. Feeling sorry for the thing I moved towards it slowly.

My eyes darted towards the surrounding woods and looked for any sort of threat. My keen eyes didn't see anything, but my instincts told me there was something out there. Whatever it was was making me nervous, and it made me quicken my pace. When I was about a foot out of the forest the rabbit saw me and instantly started to cry out. As if anything was going to help it.

The grass I trotted along was still damp, but it was soft as silk and rather enjoyable to feel. The feel of the grass changed though when I was about a foot away from the rabbit. My brow crinkled in confusion as I bent to the ground and sniffed the grass. Everything seemed to stop moving as I picked up a metallic scent. Digging my claws into the ground I was able to feel them click against the metal that was hidden in the grass. With quick reflexes I went to dart out of the trap, but unfortunately I ended up going the wrong way and triggered the trap. Four wire walls shot up and locked around me. I spun around and around trying to see some way out, but it was no use. The rabbit that was now stuck in the cage with me let out an even more frightened squeal than before.

"_Don't worry I'm not going to hurt you. I was going to help you out!"_ I tried to explain, it just seemed to frighten the poor thing even more.

"_You're nothing but a rotten trickster! When you kill me just make it quick and put me out of my misery!" _The rabbit seemed to be panicking so bad that I thought he was going to give himself a heart attack, which would just end up killing him. There had to be some way to calm him down.

"_If I wanted you dead I would have killed you already. Now tell me who put you here," _I told the scared rabbit. It took him a few moments to calm himself enough to answer me, but he finally did. His eyes never left mine though, so I knew he didn't completely trust me.

"_Some man put me here. He bought me out of the pet store and then decides to go and do this. I'm meant to be a __**pet **__not some pray for the likes of you!" _The rabbit snapped at me. Sitting back on my haunches I just rolled my eyes at this creature. For someone who didn't want to die he was sure pushing it.

"_Is there any way you can describe the man to me?"_

"_Why don't you describe him?! Why should I help someone like you?" _This rabbits attitude was quickly ticking me off, so to put him in his place I growled at him and showed him my teeth. In a flash he was backed up in the corner and shaking like a leaf, just like before.

"_If you don't want to die, I suggest you try to describe the man to me. Alright?" _All the rabbit did was nod his head at me. There was a few moments of silence before I gave him an expectant look, which kicked him into gear and got him talking.

"_Um…he-e was a tall man-n with blonde hair that was pulled back-k, and was twisted in some weird-d way. His eyes were brown-n and his skin was really tan. And-d on his arm-m there was some-e kind of-f…scene I guess you could-d say," _The rabbit stuttered out. Instantly my mind conjured up an image of what the man would look like. My heart stopped on the spot as I thought of the man.

"_On his arm would you say that it looked like a full moon with a ringlet of ivory vines growing on it?" _I asked sternly, and seriously. Just to show how serious I was, I got real close to the rabbit and watched it shake again. "_Answer me!"_

"_Yes! Yes I guess you could say it was a moon with ivory! There was something in the middle of the moon but I have no idea what it was. That's all I can tell you, I swear!" _The rabbit spoke quickly, eyeing my teeth I had bared at him. With the rabbits words to confirm my worst fear I began to think of a way out of here. Scanning the cage I tried to find some weak point, but it was no use. And the time for escape didn't last more than five minutes. For standing at the edge of the forest was the man that the rabbit had described to me; and the fear immediately bubbled up inside of me.

"Well well what an interesting sight. The fox and the hare. It's rather surprising that the hare is still alive. What's the matter fox? Not in the mood to eat?" The man seemed to taunt. Every muscle in my body locked up, I refused to show this man that I was afraid of him. "Well it doesn't matter. You'll eat eventually, but in the mean time you're coming with me." Then with one hand he grabbed the handle on the top of the cage and began to carry the rabbit and me. Not that I was extremely heavy, but it should have been difficult for him to carry us; especially with only one hand!

Like a skilled hunter, he walked through the woods and made sure he didn't drop us. The once beautiful forest I had been so easily fascinated with earlier now seemed not to matter at all. Up in the trees I could feel the birds stares as they watched the rabbit and I get carried away. A deer even wondered onto the path and stared at us with a sad expression before bounding off into the woods. Any hope that I had earlier died in that moment, so I laid down in the cage. My ears laid flat against my head, showing my sadness, as my eyes drifted to the forest around me; for this would be the last time I saw such a thing of beauty.

We arrived at the hunter's truck and he threw us into the back. He wasn't gentle at all, so the rabbit ended up tumbling into my side. To my surprise he didn't jump away. Instead he curled into my side and hid his face in my fur. I could tell he was sensing the hopelessness of our situation as well. Trying to help, I curled myself around him and attempted to give him some comfort. He spoke no words, but he licked my muzzle in what I assumed was a 'thank you'.

Wind whipped around us and I was forced to close my eyes in order to escape the burning feeling. The wind wasn't the only reason my eyes were burning. With what little strength I had, I attempted to hold back my tears. It was difficult, very difficult, but I did it. The sound of passing cars helped, because it was a distraction.

Standing up in the cage I looked around and saw that we were in town. It wasn't that big of a town but their were plenty of people in it. The town had what any other town would have; there was a market, some little shops, a few taverns, a gas station, and then there was a fur shop. If it was possible the color would have drained from my face. This hunter couldn't possibly have been thinking of bringing the rabbit and me here? Weren't there laws protecting the fox? To my dismay this was where we were stopping. Whipping around, I watched the hunter get out of the truck and slam his door shut. My eyes never left his, and I watched him in a trance as he opened the bed of the truck and put the cage on there.

With a smirk on his face he leaned in real close and said, "Now you be a good little girl and stay here, alright? I'll be right back, and then we'll both be happy campers." With that he walked away and disappeared into the shop. Searching my surroundings I tried to find something, anything, to help with us escaping.

"_We're going to die…aren't we?" _The rabbit questioned softly.

"_No we are not! I'm going to get us out of here. So shut up and stop talking like that!" _I snapped at him, and kept looking. With every moment that passed my panic began to rise even higher. There was nothing within reach that could possibly helped. Maybe this was where the rabbit and I died. It was in that moment that the tears started to cascade down the side of my face.

"Embry you idiot! Stop goofing around and lets go!" My head snapped up at the familiar voice, it wasn't my favorite sound in the world but I recognized it. Across the street at the gas station there were some of the boys I had run into the night before. Not everyone from the group was there, but there was enough that I was bound to get someone's attention. Standing up tall I began to bark at them, like the tamed foxes I heard had done. None of them could hear me, but I didn't give up. If anything I became more determined and barked louder.

One of the boys started to look around, it was the boy who caught me eating the hamburger. He had a concentrated look on his face, which made me believe he might have heard me. Acting like a young pup, I bent down to the ground and stuck my tail in the air and wagged it. The boy continued to look around so I let out the loudest bark I possibly could. Jumping up, and standing up straight, I watched as he turned around and spotted me. As soon as his eyes connected with mine he didn't look away. My barking stopped, because all I could do was stare at him. I did my best to give him a look that told me I needed help, but the fact that I was stuck in a cage probably told him already. Different emotions seemed to dance across his eyes. All I could do was watch as he turned to his group of friends and talked to them. They listened to him and then spontaneously they all turned to look at me. One of the other boys in the group got a big smile on his face and started to cross the street, not even bothering to see if anyone was coming.

"Embry! What are you doing?" Someone yelled at him, but the boy, Embry, didn't slow his pace. My eyes darted between the separated boys. As soon as Embry was on the sidewalk the other boys started to follow. My gaze only looked at Embry as he stood in front of me. I got as close to him as possible and let out soft whines.

"_What are you doing fox?! Stay away from the humans!" _The rabbit yelled at me, but I ignored him. These guys were our only hope of getting out of here.

"Hey there, little lady. What are you doing in a cage like this? Aren't you usually running away from the humans?" Embry questioned, I wasn't sure if he was taking the situation seriously but I needed him to. My eyes bore into his as I tried to relay my feelings through my eyes. By the way he was staring, I think he got caught up in my intense look.

"It doesn't matter where she's suppose to be. We all know she's not suppose to be in there. So help me figure out how to get her out," The boy who noticed me first spoke, immediately startling everyone. The tone he used had so much authority in it that it was amazing. It made me not even want to question him.

"Whoa whoa whoa Jacob! Hold on a minute! We can't just bust her out. Obviously a hunt-"

"Shut up Paul! I know a hunter got her, and I'm not going to let whoever it is kill her!" Jacob snapped defensively. Even though I hadn't met this boy I liked him already. When I was unable to defend myself he was doing it for me. It was flattering really, even in a situation like this.

"That's what happens when wild animals are caught! Just let this go ma-"

"She's my imprint I can't just let this go!!!" Jacob yelled at Paul. I had no idea what 'imprint' meant, but apparently everyone else did; because the whole situation seemed to change within that moment. Every person in the group got a serious and determined look on their face, even Paul's attitude changed.

"Alright Embry, Quil, and Paul you go in the fur shop and distract any hunters you see. I'm gonna help Jacob get her out of here. Make sure no one leaves that store for the next five minutes or so. Okay?" A boy questioned, with a care free and light tone. For a moment everyone just stared at him, before Paul let out a scoff.

"This is definitely not my type of thing." And with that he disappeared into the fur shop, with his arms crossed. Embry and Quil quickly followed with a couple of big smiles on their faces. I got the distinct impression that they were a couple of guys who acted like clowns. Turning back around I looked at Jacob and his friend. Their stares lingered where the other three boys had disappeared to before turning back to me.

"Alright are you ready?" Jacob asked me, giving me one of the most powerful looks I had ever seen. As soon as I nodded my head the two boys lifted me up and carried me away. I knew I would be in great debt to these boys after this, but the relief I felt was well worth that debt.


	3. The Fox's Tale

"She better really be your imprint, because if this is some sick joke I'm kicking your ass, Jacob," Paul threatened, leaning against the wall. I'd figured out that we were currently in Sam's home. Everyone that seemed of importance was here, except Billy and he was one of the people I wanted to see; and Sam wasn't here as well. They were all gathered around the cage the rabbit and I were stuck in. At the moment they were attempting to get us out, but seemed to be having difficulty. It was a rather comical sight watching them all try to get us out.

"I'm not lying! Now what do we do to get her out?" Jacob questioned everyone. For the past hour they had all attempted to get me out. You'd think if you had muscle like they did that this would be a simple task, apparently not. Jacob would stop most of their attempts to get me out because he feared that it would hurt the rabbit and me. I'd been in worse situations than anything they could possibly do to me at the moment.

"Like this!" Everyone turned to find a women with a frying pan raised above her head. Before anyone could say, or do anything, she slammed the frying pan on the corner of the cage. For a moment there was a slight ring in the air before anyone dared move and react.

"What do you think you're doing Emily?!" Jacob yelled at her, with a startled look on his face. Everyone in the room looked both surprised and slightly nervous. I just tilted my head to the side and looked at them all curiously. She was just a little women, what's the worst she could do.

"I was helping. See it's slightly open now!" Emily exclaimed, with a smile on her face. If I could of I would have laughed. Everyone took notice of what she said and looked closer at the cage. There was indeed a noticeable gap. It was a big enough gap for someone to reach in and pull the cage open wider. Jacob was the one who took the opportunity to open it. The muscles in his arms flexed immensely and showed me just how powerful they really were. He didn't show any signs of a strain except for a slight twitch of his eye.

With a groan and creak, part of the cage was pulled off; creating an opening for me to get out. My back pressed to the back of the cage, as far away from the opening. The rabbit was curled up to my stomach, and lightly nuzzling me. It seem he could sense my uncertainty of approaching these people, even if they had helped us. The only other person in the room who seemed to notice I was nervous was Emily. Looking at her I tried to show her I needed help, that I didn't want anyone forcing me out.

"Guys, be careful with her. She doesn't look to sure about all this," Emily told them in a gentle voice, none of them seemed to really pay attention to her though. Jacob was crouched down in front of the cage, and trying to get me to come out by talking softly to me. His talking to me was calming me down a bit, but I still didn't want to come out.

"Come on, everything is alright. No one here is going to hurt you. I promise," Jacob whispered to me, and used his hand to encourage me to come out. Glancing down at the rabbit I saw that he was shaking like a leaf. If I was confident in the situation maybe it would help him. Hesitantly I stepped forward, and looked around at everyone. Jacob had a smile on his face as he continued to encourage me to come out. I got close enough that I could sniff at his hand, and then rub my head against it.

"Well isn't that cute," Embry said, pretending to act like a little schoolgirl. He was a rather funny guy, but Jacob gave him an annoyed look. "What it's true!"

"You can never keep your mouth shut can you?" Paul snapped from the wall. Paul received a glare from Embry but went unnoticed. "Alright the cage is open and she's come out. Now what?"

No one said anything, so I looked around curiously. These guys didn't really seem to think this through. I laid down at the edge of the cage and just watched them banter back and forth. No one seemed to be able to agree on anything, and at some point during their chitchat Emily had disappeared. There was a colorful array of words thrown every where and it seemed like fists would be flying soon. Paul had something negative to say about ever comment made.

"_You should have just had us skinned and killed instead of going through this. These people are very annoying!"_

"_They're just a little flustered at the moment. They deserve a chance," _I told the rabbit calmly, then turned back to the group. They had all stopped talking and were looking at me strange, before glancing back at each other. Emily had also appeared in the room again with what looked like a tray of fruit. My nose twitched at the sweet scents that came from the tray; even the rabbit approached my side to take a sniff at the scents. They were lovely smells that made my stomach grumble.

"So you two are hungry. Well if you want any of this you better follow me, other wise I'm going to eat it all," Emily spoke in a friendly tone. All the guys perked up at the sight of food and seemed to crowd around her. "Well come on."

Hopping to my feet, I started to follow Emily, but stopped when I noticed the rabbit wasn't following. He was frozen in the cage, and looking up at all the large boys that loomed over him. I knew he wouldn't follow, so I trotted over to him and picked him up by the scruff of his neck. He didn't let out any protest so I quickly turned to follow Emily. I found her in the living room sitting on the couch with the fruit, and Jacob on the other end of the couch. The rest of the boys were spread all over the floor and in a couple of recliners. The room seemed to be set up around them.

"Come on, don't you want to eat?" Carefully I jumped on the couch because one, I was still holding the rabbit by the scruff of his neck, and two, there wasn't much room between Emily and Jacob for me to situate myself. My front legs were situated on Emily lap while my hind legs and tail were slightly on Jacob's lap. Emily fed the rabbit and me little diced pieces of fruits that were delicious. The juices were refreshing and flavor was delicious tasting. "I called Billy. He said he'd be here any time now."

As we sat waiting for Billy, Emily diced the little pieces of fruit and fed them to us. They were juicy and fresh, which was wonderful. I hadn't eating anything decent in a few days. "Hey, Jake, you want to try to feed her?" I glanced at Jacob to see his face light up, but there was a hint of nervousness to it. I watched as Emily passed the tray to Jacob, but didn't move. I wanted to see what he would do to try and get me to eat. He attempted to hold a piece of cantaloupe out to me, but my ears to just perked towards him curiously. At my refusal to eat anything he gave me, I could see that he grew discouraged. "Come on, don't be mean to Jacob. He's trying to be nice to you." Looking at Emily I could see that she was giving me a stern look, so I picked up the rabbit and placed him in her lap. I waited for the rabbit to get use to Emily before I resituated myself on Jacob. This time though my hind legs weren't on Emily because I laid practically in Jacob's entire lap. Tentatively, Jacob held a piece of fruit out to me. He must of noticed the sparkle in my eye, because before he could take his hand away, I snatched the fruit from him. In the process though I lightly nipped his fingers, causing him a slight pain.

There was a glint in Jacob's eye that showed he was hurt, but not by the pain that I had caused him. It caused my chest to tighten up to see that wounded look in his eyes. Feeling bad, I lightly licked at his fingers in an apology. I just wanted to be playful, not actually hurt his feelings. After awhile of rubbing my head against his hand he let lose a bright smile before he started to pet me. It had a calming affect so I laid my head on my paws and lightly dozed off.

It was some time later that I heard the front door open and close. I sat up with a start and watched as Billy rolled into the room, with Sam following behind. There was a look of weariness in his eyes, so I assumed that he was rather tired. He had my full attention, along with everyone else's, as he wheeled into the middle of the room for everyone to see him. His eyes connected with mine for a moment and I was able to see all the emotions that danced through those expressive eyes. Jacob and him had very similar eyes.

"I had a feeling we'd run into you again, but I didn't think we'd run into each other so soon! Are you enjoying yourself here?" I made no move to answer him, because I didn't know the answer. Here, in this house, I was enjoying myself; but as soon as I was out of it I knew the dangers that awaited. The mere thought of the things that were waiting for me caused me tense up. "Nobody here knows who you are. I have my suspicions though."

"So who do you think she is?" Sam questioned, finally stepping into the room. Sam had the aura of a leader that demanded respect. I completely crawled onto Jacob's lap when Sam moved to sit next to Emily on the couch. My muscles practically shook from how tense they were and at how close Sam was. Something about him rubbed me wrong and made me extremely cautious of him.

"I think that she is just like us, but from one of our sister tribes." Everyone had extremely surprised looks as they stared at Billy. Even Jacob stopped petting me as he too stared at Billy. I was starting to grow nervous once more, just like I had done back in the cage.

"Would you like to explain that in a little more detail?" Sam questioned Billy, getting a slight nod from everyone in the room, saying they too wanted Billy to explain.

"Our stories say we were born from the wolf. Well there are other tribes, our brother and sister tribes, who too believe they were born from an animal. There is one tribe who say they were born from the bear, and then there is another whose stories say they were born from the cougar. Each tribe has their stories, and each tribe has stories that are true," Billy spoke in a mesmerizing tone, "There is one tribe, who has long since talked to their brothers or sisters, and they were believed to have been born from the fox. This tribe not only protected their own but the rest of their family. We were once apart their family.

"Now our tribe stories says that we became protectors because of vampires. This is true for many tribes. Even the tribe of the fox. The foxes though had something else…They had this wisdom. A wisdom that lead them to take down any foe and any enemy who threatened them. To all it was amazing, and whenever their brothers and sisters needed them, the fox would appear and give them there wisdom, and lead them to victory. A few months ago the foxes were wiped out. All the protectors just…disappeared. The same has happened to the coyote protectors and badger protectors. Without the wisdom of the fox all these protectors have not been able to stop this enemy who is wiping them out. All the tribes that have protectors grow fearful that something, whatever is wiping out our brothers and sisters, is coming after them."

Billy then turned his stern gaze to me. There was a blaze in his eyes that made me not dare turn away. "You have shown all the characteristics of the fox tribe. Tell me now, are you one of the fox tribe's protectors?" No matter how hard I tried I couldn't tear my eyes away from Billy. Every member in the room had their gazes trained on me. It made my tail twitch.

I couldn't dare bring myself to answer him though. A fear pulsed through me at how they would react to my answer. I'd seen what tribes did when our protectors began to dwindle and grew unable to assist them. If people were to find out that I was still alive…I couldn't even bring myself to think of the consequences. A new fire burned within me as I leapt from Jacob's lap and into the middle of the room. My tail swished behind me in an eerie manner as I glared at everyone in the room Everyone jumped at my actions but I didn't care. Turning to Billy I began to growl at him. At the sound of my growl everyone leapt to their feet and moved to quickly block Billy from my path. Behind me I could sense that Sam was going to come at me. With lightening quick speed I spun around and clamped my jaw onto his arm, stopping him from touching me.

I don't know if he did it intentionally or on pure instinct, but he slammed a closed fist right on the top of my head. It felt like someone dropped a cement block on my head from a few stories up. Instantly I let go of his arm, and thought that was the end of his attack. I was very wrong.

With the force of a bull he slammed his fist into my side. I could feel my ribs break as I flew through the air and into the wall. A white sheet of pain blinded me for a few moments, but I jumped to my feet as soon as I could. Looking around I saw that everyone was looking at Sam with surprise. Even Sam had a slight surprised look on his face. The silence in the room was broken though with a roar that ripped through Jacob. He started to charge at Sam but stopped when "ENOUGH!" was shouted. My attention turned to Billy as he glared at Sam and Jacob.

The rabbit scrambled from Emily's lap and over to me. He lightly placed his paws on my side and began to sniff at the damage that was caused to me. _"Are you alright? How badly are you hurt?"_

I attempted to answer him, but a very heart wrenching and pain filled whine escaped me. The rabbit was close, and was trying to comfort me, so I buried my face into his soft fur. Before I had no reason to be fearful of these people, but after feeling what they could do to me I was scared. I felt like a deer who was being hunted by a great predator. That was the only way I could describe the terror that coursed through me. From both the pain and the fear I began to cry. Everyone turned and looked at me as they heard my whining. Most of the people in the room looked saddened as they looked upon me. Billy started to wheel closer to me but I quickly began to move away. By moving it resulted in me knocking over a side table and lamp. When I came in contact with the side table it caused me to move my broken ribs. It was as if someone knocked the wind out of me and I fell to the floor.

"I'm so sorry honey. This wasn't meant to happen. Please do not fear us. All we want is to help you, not harm you," Billy spoke softly, at the end of his sentence he sent Sam a heated gaze. It was a glare with such a force that it would cause anyone to back down.

Forcing myself to my feet, I limped out of the room. The rabbit was right by my side and I could hear everyone following, but from a distance. I reached my destination, the front door, and was dismayed to see that the door was closed and locked. Pathetically and weakly I began to claw at it. It did nothing but put me in an even weaker and more pained state than I already was. After awhile I collapsed and couldn't hold myself up any longer. With hot tears on my face, I rubbed my forehead against the door and willed it to open. That didn't happen though.


	4. The Beginning of Healing

**I want to say thanks to my wonderful Beta! She's been a ton of help and her hard work is greatly appreciated. With her help I'm going to be able to finish this story. All you reviewers are going to help me finish it as well! Every review I have read has boosted my confidants and helped me continue writing. You all are awesome! Thank you so much everyone! Now go ahead and enjoy!**

No one said anything to me, or approached me. I was laid out on my side, which didn't have the broken ribs, and taking deep slow breaths. No matter what I did it hurt. I'd been laying here for an hour and the pain just grew worse and worse. The rabbit was curled up by my neck and sound asleep, attempting to bring me some sort of comfort. When we'd first met he'd been sarcastic and mean, but it seemed as if he was starting to grow to care about me. Who knew that the hare could care for the fox?

"What are we going to do?" Embry asked quietly, for the past hour I had been laying here they had been discussing what they were going to do. No one could seem to agree on anything and they just kept arguing.

"She's hurt and scared, so there is no way we can get near her. She'll end up trying to get away from us again and hurt herself in the process," Emily spoke gently, everyone in the room was tense and I could tell she didn't want to set anyone off. I don't think it mattered what she said, someone was bound to say something negative.

"She's not stupid. I say we just leave her there and let her heal," Paul stated, in that annoyed tone he had. I found Paul interesting, and wondered what he would be like if he didn't always act angry. Every moment I was around him all he ever seemed was angry, frustrated, or annoyed. There had to be a gentler side to him.

"She's hurt real bad though. We can't just leave her there," The boy, Quil spoke from next to Embry. Both Embry and Quil gave me sorrowful looks the entire time I laid by the front door. They had tried a couple of times to come near me, but were stopped by Sam. When he stopped them I would let out a deep and threatening growl, I didn't care how much pain it caused me, I wanted that man away from me. He officially made himself an enemy the moment he hit me. And he instantly made me decide that he would never gain any of my wisdom.

"She looks like she's broken a rib," Billy stated in a plain voice.

"What?!" Jacob flipped; he began to shake all over as he spun on Sam and gave him the deadliest look I'd ever seen. It even made me shiver even when the gaze wasn't directed at me, or anywhere near me. It almost made me feel sorry for Sam. The key word in that sentence was **almost**.

"From the looks of it she doesn't have the same healing factors as you guys. She either takes longer to heal…or heals like a normal animal would. We'll need to be gentle, but her bones must be set in place and she must rest. After we do that we'll take her to our house since she doesn't seem to be a big fan of Sam," Billy explained, Emily disappeared to go get some bandages, I assumed, while Jacob and Quil started to approach me. The pain was so intense now that I didn't even bother to try and get away from them. All my mind could wrap around was the pain.

"Well who would like Sam after he flung them into a wall?" Paul said; I was able to pick up a slight defensive tone to his voice which caused me to glance at him. There was a good side to Paul – you just had to notice him in order to see it.

"Shut up Paul!" Sam growled out, spinning towards Paul with his hands clenched at his sides. Paul didn't even seemed fazed by Sam's words, and just sent him a heated glare.

"That's enough from the both of you! Now, Quil, you're going to gently help her stay standing. Jacob, you're going to have to wind the wraps around her torso, but make sure they aren't too tight or too lose. Later we'll call Quil's grandfather and find out the best way to treat her, for now we're going to have to go with this," Billy explained to the two boys. Emily appeared then and Jacob took the bandages from her. Slowly the boys approached me, I was sure they were nervous and afraid that I would attack them. I trusted them though and restrained myself from snapping at them.

With great care, Quil lifted me up and helped me stay on my feet. It was the most painful thing that I had done. I'd been in plenty of fights and had plenty of wounds, but broken ribs seemed to be the worst thing for me. Jacob began to wrap the bandage around me, while whispering reassuring words into my ear every time I would whimper. Quil put me in a position that was comfortable and allowed him to pet my head. With how careful they were being it made me feel bad for fearing them earlier. They didn't want this to happen to me, and they proved that by showing their worry and helping me. When Jacob was finished he backed away, but Quil kept me in my position.

"We're gonna have to move her out to the car," Jacob stated, at the thought of being moved I grimaced. Getting the wrap on was painful enough, but actually moving to a car was going to be a whole lot worse.

"We can either stick on my lap while I wheel out there, or you can carry her in your arms. You decide what is best," Billy told Jacob. Billy wheeled towards me and looked up at Jacob expectantly. I looked up at Jacob to see that he had been looking at me while trying to decide his answers. Whatever his decision was it didn't really matter because I knew it was going to hurt.

"I'll carry her. When you go down the stairs it might jar ribs, and I don't want to hurt her more than she already is." With graceful ease and with the utmost gentleness, Quil lifted me up and transferred me to Jacob's waiting arms. Quil then appeared behind Billy and began to wheel him outside. It was now lightly raining and the sky was covered in fluffy gray clouds that refused to let any light come through. We stood under the porch while Quil helped Billy into the driver's side of the little Volkswagen. Once he was situated, Jacob moved to follow. When Jacob walked it was like he was gliding, and that it was the easiest thing in the world for him. We were almost off the porch when Jacob slipped off the last step. He easily caught himself, but by catching himself his chest slammed into my side. With all my might I tried to keep in my whimper, but it still escaped. When I looked up into Jacob's eyes all I saw was pure mortification. I've never seen someone have such an intense look as that. "I am so sorry! I swear I didn't mean for that to happen. Are you ok? Did I hurt you worse than you are? Please forgive me I-I didn't want t-that to h-happen." Towards the end of his sentence I was sure he was going to start crying. Pushing myself up carefully, I nuzzled the side of his face with mine. I didn't want him to feel bad for an accident.

I continued to rub my face against Jacob's until he got in the passenger seat. Once he was sitting down his expression changed to that of a blank one. I don't know if that was better or worse. So I just sat there quietly and soaked up the heat that radiated off of him. For awhile the car ride was silent, but Billy broke the silence after awhile.

"Jake, I'm sorry. I never thought that that could have happened," Billy said in a pleading tone, trying to get Jacob to understand. Jacob didn't really say anything, but gave Billy a glance. I could tell that Billy was extremely sorry, so I looked up at Jacob and instantly he looked back at me. Glancing between Billy and Jacob and I tried to show Jacob through my gaze that he should say something to Billy.

"I know this wasn't supposed to happen, Dad, but it did. You shouldn't have stopped me. Sam deserved what was coming to him and you know it!" Jacob started to growl and tremble towards the end of his sentence. Billy looked like he was going to try to calm him down, but I decided to do it myself. Sitting up, with some difficulty, I rubbed my head against his neck. The muscles I hadn't realized were tense loosened up at my touch. If I could I would have been blushing, because this was a little bold for me to do, but I couldn't help myself. I wanted to help him though. Jacob stoked my shoulder with great care as the rest of the ride was in silence except for the sound of the rain hitting the windshield.

Jacob continued his gentle strokes throughout the ride and helped me relax. It took my mind off of the pain and helped me to focus on the soothing effects his hands created. Pretty soon I couldn't keep my eyes open, so I closed them to just relax. I didn't notice the black that was creeping into vision along with exhaustion until it was too late.

Sometime during the drive I had fallen asleep, because I was no longer in the car. Instead I was lying on a bed, and in a slightly cluttered room. As soon as I took a whiff of the room all I could smell was Jacob. The smell calmed me, but I quickly shoot that from my mind. I went to stand up, but something tugged at my torso. Glancing down, I noticed that there was a new bandage and that the old one was gone. Quil's grandfather must have fixed me up, and he must have given me some kind of drug because the pain was gone and I was feeling a little loopy.

It was in that moment that I realized the rabbit wasn't with me. Panic filled me as I thought about how terrified he must have been. He had to still be at Emily and Sam's. Once again I attempted to stand, but I couldn't. I was weak and tired, so it was no use. With an exhausted sigh, I laid back down and let myself relax for the first time since I had arrived to this area. At first it was nice, but then I started to think. I thought of everything and what was going to happen in the future filled my mind. My heart clenched painfully as past memories flittered before my eyes and reminded me of what the future before. Without even really noticing I began to cry. Warm hot tears were streaming down my face.

_Why does this have to happen to me? Why do I have to live like this? _My ear twitched at the sound of someone approaching, but I didn't care. I just shut my eyes and pretended to be asleep. No energy was left in me to spend on these people. I just wanted to be left alone to my silence – the silence that no one would be able to save me from.

The creak of a door grabbed my attention, but I didn't move. The creak was heard again as the same door was closed, and then footsteps could be heard approaching. Before he even was really close to me I could feel the heat radiate off of him, and it was by the heat I was able to identify that it was Jacob. He sat on the bed close to my stomach and lightly placed his hand on my head. With light and gentle hands, he began to stroke my head; which was calming. His hands would rub down my back and then my tail, it felt as if someone was giving me a back massage and it was very relaxing. The cast was in the way, but he managed to work around it. Next he ran his opened palms along the sides of my face, but stopped just under my eyes. His nimble fingers brushed at the tear streaks on my face and I could feel him tense up.

"I'm so sorry for everything that happened. I didn't…I couldn't…stop it. It was because I was too slow that you got hurt like this. All of this is my fault. Please…you have to get better. If you don't…" Without looking I was able to notice that Jacob's mind had wondered off. I didn't take it offensively, I'm sure he didn't even notice he had done it. With a slight struggle, I rubbed my nose into his hand and did my best to give him a message. A message that told him that he had done nothing wrong, that it wasn't his fault. With sorrowful eyes he just looked down at me.

"I…I know you can't reply to me…but what's wrong? Is it something we did? Is there any way I can fix it?" Jacob asked, while I lifted my head up to look at him. With heavy eyes I looked at him and it was difficult to hold back the tears, I wanted so bad to say something to him. "Please…let me help you. Let me be here for you." It was with those words that I realized something, and for some reason my chest twisted in the most painful of ways. Jacob Black had been hurt. Not physically, but emotionally; and I figured out that someone had broken his heart. And I figured it out not just by looking into his eyes, but by the great wisdom of the fox.


	5. Insight

**I want to give another shout out to my wonderful Beta who has put her time into editting my story for me! She has been great and quick to edit my story! To my faithful reviewers thank you! You guys put a smile on my face. Hope you enjoy the next chapter.**

It's been a few days since I arrived at the Blacks' house. I've found out quite a bit about them and found their company very enjoyable. Billy was a kind old man that let me follow him everywhere. One day when he and Jacob were out I had accidentally made a mess of the house – more specifically the kitchen. I'd been hungry and attempted to get some food…let's just say it wasn't the best idea. Billy didn't raise his voice at me or anything and just told Jacob to clean up the mess.

Then there was Jacob. I can't even begin to think of how to describe him. He was one of the sweetest and most patient guys there is. My first night here, I had been in excruciating pain and couldn't sleep. Well Jacob was right there to whisper sweet nothings in my ear and help distract me from the pain. He talked to me a lot while he wasn't gone. He'd told me funny stories about Embry and Quil, then he told me about his sisters and mother, and he told me about the Quileute legends. He was great.

Today was one of those days that both Billy and Jacob were out. I had the whole house to myself and my ribs no longer bothered me. The cunning part of me kicked in and I dashed up the stairs and to Jacob's room. His room was pretty clean for the most part, he learned that my curiosity got the best of me and I could make a mess of things. He never left anything out now. Sitting in the middle of the room, I let my ears take in all the sounds that were around. Once I was positive that no one was in the area for a few miles, I let the prickling sensation take over my body. My limbs extended, hair disappeared, and canine teeth sharp.

I was now sitting in the middle of Jacob's floor naked. On slightly shaky legs, I stood up and moved to his closet. The first shirt I grabbed was huge and was like a dress on me. All his shirts were huge though. I debated on putting on some of his pants, but figured they would just fall off, so settled for a pair of clean pair of Jacob's boxers. I then went to the bathroom and jumped in the shower, washing my hair and body over and over again. The dirt and grime felt like it was never going to come off my skin. It was around an hour later I walked out, and nearly jumped out of my skin. Outside the rain was pouring from the sky in buckets, and you could see the lightening and hear the thunder. The sound of thunder traumatized me. On quick feet I dashed down the stairs and to the living room. There was a blanket on the back of the couch and that I curled up in and hid under. I was so glad I wasn't a fox right now. My sensitive ears as a fox would have made this storm seem ten times worse.

For the entire day it seemed like the storm didn't let up, and during that time I never left my security under the blanket. My stomach was in a knot from how hungry I was, and was making me sick, but I couldn't bring myself to move. There was another bang of thunder that had me shaking like a leaf. This wouldn't have been so bad if Billy or Jacob were here. They had such a calming effect on me. Billy was gentle and Jacob always knew what to say.

There was another roar of thunder that caused me to start whimpering. My mind was so distracted by the thunder that it that it didn't pick up the sound of footsteps. The next thing I knew the blanket was being torn off of me and I tumbled to the floor with a scream. My eyes instantly moved to the surprised forms of Billy and Jacob. Jacob was holding the blanket in his hand, while Billy had a bag on his lap. It looked like groceries.

"Who are you?" Billy growled at me, I quickly scrambled to my feet and curled my hands into my chest. My eyes snapped from Jacob to Billy as I readied myself to dash if they did anything to me. I had hoped that they would recognize me, but I guess not.

"I-I'm Athena-a," I stuttered out, my shaking not stopping. Jacob's eyes showed that he was off in his own little world and wasn't really here, so it was just Billy and me.

"What are you doing in my house?" He spoke in a dark tone. It made me take a step back, while it made Jacob take a step forward. This caused Billy to stare at him strangely before realization seemed to dawn on his face.

"I'm the f-fox. I didn't m-mean to intrude-e," I mumbled softly, a startled whelp escaped me when the strongest sound of thunder tore through the sky. Without even thinking I dashed forward and wrapped my arms around Jacob. It seemed so natural to do because he was always petting me, or had me wrapped in his arms when we were asleep.

"I take it you don't like thunder," Jacob said, while wrapping his warm arms around me. There was another crack of thunder that practically made me jump a foot in the air.

"Alright, come on. We're just going to sit here and wait the storm out." Jacob guided me to the couch, not once unwrapping his arms from around me. When we were comfortable he let me curl up into his side and nestle my face into his chest.

"Are you hungry, Athena?" Billy question, wheeling himself to a stop in front of us. I looked up at him with what I was told was my 'big innocent eyes' expression.

"Yes," I spoke quietly, clamping my hands onto Jacob's shirt when the thunder made itself known once more. His hands were lightly stroking my back, and he started to whisper sweet nothings into my ear. That was something special Jacob seemed to do for me, and it is what put me to sleep at night.

"Well then I'll go order us a pizza for dinner, hope you don't mind. There isn't much cooking in this house," Billy told me with a smile on his face. For a few moments it made me forget about the thunder and smile back at him. It was in those few moments that I realized what I was doing and blushed a deep rose red. I jumped off the couch and away from Jacob, unable to look him in the eye. Just as fast as me he stood up with his hand reached out to me, seeking some sort of contact.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be act like a child. It won't happen again," I spoke softly, while looking at my feet. My hands picked at the ends of my shirt in a nervous habit. My head snapped up though when I felt Jacob's scorching hands on my shoulders. There was a warm smile on his face as he looked down at me.

"There is no need for you to apologize. Everyone has their fears, and you never need to say sorry to me for them," Jacob told me kindly; my blush returned when he leaned down and placed a gentle kiss to my forehead. He stayed there for a few moments before pulling back and placing his hand on my cheek; lightly stroking it.

"Just what I need in my house, a bunch of fluffy moments," Billy said, and rolled his eyes. He then left Jacob and me to go order pizza. Jacob and I just stood there, looking into each other's eyes. We were still strangers, yet it felt like we had grown up together. I could feel the fox inside me prickle as it let its wisdom seep into me. That wisdom filled me with love, which confused. It didn't matter though, it was just Jacob and I here and I wanted it to stay that way.

It was about thirty minutes later that the pizza arrived, and during that thirty minutes Billy and Jacob had distracted me from the storm. We talked about anything and everything. It was the easiest thing to talk to them. There was no need to put any effort into our conversation, it just flowed. It was as if they were your family and you could tell them anything. Back at my tribe I had been treated different because of what I was. They didn't treat me as an equal; I was treated more as if I was a high ranking chief in the tribe. It made things hard, because you couldn't tell who were your friends and who weren't. All of us foxes were isolated creatures who only socialized with one another because of those reasons.

Jacob ate an entire pizza by himself, which had me staring at him in awe. My mind couldn't wrap around eating that much food, let alone where he was putting it. When he saw my expression he just blushed and gave me a cheesy smile. It caused both Billy and I to laugh. Together Billy and I finished most of a pizza together, but there were a few pieces that Jacob snatched up. After the living room was cleaned of pizza, I settled on the couch with Jacob close to my side. Billy sat in front of us with a serious expression on his face that made me nervous. I knew what was coming next, but there was no putting it off any longer.

I think that Jacob could sense I was nervous because he put his arm around me. "I know you have been enjoying your stay here, Athena, and that's great. The time has come, though, for you to answer some questions. I know you don't want to talk, but it is necessary. So please try to understand that I'm not trying to pry into your life," Billy explained in a soft voice. His expression showed that he didn't want to do this, but he didn't really have a choice. I could understand that. "The biggest question is what happened to the foxes?"

My eyes were already watering as I thought of what had happened to my friends, the friends who had grown to be my family. They had been there for me through everything, as I had done for them. "They were killed. Everyone was killed."

"What do you mean?"

"There is this...group I guess you could say. They are humans, who we have called hunters, who are working for the Volturi. The Volturi see us protectors as a threat, and they are wiping us out. If something out there is stronger than them they are going to take out that threat. All protectors are intimidating to them...but the foxes were more so than anyone else. I guess you could say there was more to us than all of the other protectors. Each family of protectors has their strengths that they use to help their people, and their brothers and sisters. We were the major assist to the protectors. We had wisdom on the outside, a wisdom that has been passed down from generation to generation; and each generation contributes and learns on their own. It was because of this extra strength that the hunters wiped us out first, and worked from there. My brother and I were more attuned to our wisdom and how to listen to it. My brother learned of the threat that was coming, and even though he couldn't save everyone he decided to save me...He told me to run and never look back. He said that I was the savior, that I would be the wise one that defeats the hunters and their ties to the Volturi...So I did what he said. I ran and ran until I got here. That man who caught me in the woods was a hunter. They know I'm here now, and they are going to know about you. Their attacks are quick and ruthless," I explained in a dark tone, thinking back to the pain that my family had gone through. The pain I should have gone through with them. My brother of all people didn't deserve a death as painful as his was. My throat burned as the memories of my brother flooded my mind.

"That hunter from the woods, though, didn't kill you quickly. He took you from the woods and left you out in the open – in town," Jacob injected, thinking out loud. I could tell he was confused and he didn't like it. Without really noticing he put his arm across my shoulders while thinking off in his own little world.

"Each tribe has its legends. In one of our legends it was said that if a cold one was to wear a fox's fur they would gain the wisdom of the fox. As long as there is one fox standing, all the wisdom will go to them. Because all the foxes in my tribe are gone their wisdom has been passed to me. I may not be able to access that wisdom on demand, but when it's of importance it will make itself known. They want that wisdom, because if they have it they will be able to wipe out all of the protectors," I said, looking down at the folded hands in my lap. When I was younger, I thought it was amazing to be able to transform into a fox, but now I didn't want all this responsibility. Someone had to have it though.

"They are going to keep coming after you. You'll need to be protected. Have you realized what this tribe's protectors are?" Billy questioned me, staring me in the eye with an intense look. He was trying to cover it up, but I could tell he was worried.

"Your protectors are a pack of wolves. You are one of the brothers of my tribe."

"I think it would be best if we went to Sam's and get the pack together. They will need to know all of this. If it's alright, Athena, I would like to ask you a few more questions. But, I can do that later, though," Billy mumbled the end of his sentence to himself. He disappeared out of the room and I could hear him dialing on the phone. I didn't think we were going to go to Sam's right this moment.

"I have a question! How is it that you have Native American blood in you, but don't look it at all?" Jacob asked, trying to now sound offending.

I get that question a lot, and no longer took it the wrong way. It still makes me blush though and grow shy. Jacob seemed to pick up on my shy behavior and grinned like he was the happiest person on the planet.

"On my mother's side her great, great, great grandfather fell in love with an Irish woman. You'd think that after all the generations that the Irish gene wouldn't be that strong, but it came out with me. So now I have red hair and pretty pale skin," I told him, glancing at him from the corner of my eye. He held that glance though and just stared at me.

"So did your great, great, great grandmother have curls at the end of her hair like you do?" He asked with a soft smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes. As if to emphasize his question he began to curl one of the soft curls at the end of my hair. His eyes moved from mine to the hair that was tangled around his fingers.

"No, I don't know where the curls came from. It seems to be a special gene of my own," I told him, smiling gently at the way he fascinated with my hair. My Father and Mother had told me my long hair was beautiful and that it made me the prettiest fox there was. Growing up, though, kids made fun of me, but that stopped when I became a protector.

Just like earlier, Jacob and I stared at each other, lost to the world around us. I couldn't understand why I was acting this way with him, or why I wasn't pushing him away. A few years ago I had had a boyfriend and when he tried to kiss after dating for a few months I smacked him. I could barely stand holding his hand, and I really liked him. Jacob was just different though.

"Alright, goo-goo eyes, let's go! We're off to Sam's," Billy said, ruining the moment between Jacob and I. Jacob just smiled up at his Father while I blushed a deep red. Billy was a great guy, but he definitely knew how to ruin things.

During the drive to Sam's, Jacob and Billy tried to get me to talk, but I didn't. Sam scared me because of the pain he had caused me, and I didn't want to be going over to his house. When we did get to his house, Jacob had to pull me out of the car and carry me into the house. I quickly made him put me down though before anyone saw me. He left me for a moment to get Billy and I felt like a deer caught in headlights. I was terrified to be left alone in here.

_"Is that you fox?!"_

Looking down I saw the white rabbit. He was sitting on his hind feet while looking up at me with big eyes, his nose twitching as he sniffed the air. My knees buckled at the sight of him. I'd been so worried that they had mistreated him, or that they had been thrown him out. Even though the rabbit and the fox weren't meant to be friends we somehow seemed to manage that.

"Snowball!" I yelled, he recognized my voice and jumped into my arms, burying his head into my neck. His cold we nose tickled me, which caused me to giggle and pull him away.

"_Where'd you go girl! You left me with these __**humans **__and I didn't know if you were alright. And what's a 'Snowball'?" _Snowball asked me, giving me a curious look. I couldn't help but smile at him. For being such a rotten thing he was sure warming up.

"Snowball is the name I have decided to give you. Did the treat you well here? No one hurt you did they?" I questioned, while searching over his small form for any wounds. There was nothing visibly wrong with him, if anything he had put on some weight.

"_The women, the one they call Emily, has fed me well. She doesn't let anyone come near me. I bit the man, Emily's mate, for you! I don't like people who hurt my friends…" _At the end of his sentence he was whispering as if he didn't want anyone to hear me. It just made me hug him to my chest and smile down at him.

"Are you seriously talking to a rabbit?" My head snapped up at the sound of Embry's voice. He startled me, which caused me to jump to my feet and away from him. Out of nowhere, though, Jacob's arm wrapped around my waist and reassured me.

"We're here on business Embry, personal questions can wait till later," Billy said, while wheeling past us and into the living. Embry watched him leave before turning back to me with a smile. My head titled to the side out of curiosity and he started laughing.

"Even as a human you act like a curious fox!" Embry laughed out, which caused me to scowl at him.

"Alright back off Embry. Like Dad said, we have business to attend to," Jacob spoke, pushing me forward. Every muscle in my body tensed as I was forced into the room that I had last been hurt.

"_This isn't going to go well," _Snowball told me. I couldn't agree with him more. Something had to go wrong.


	6. A New Friend

Together Billy and I explained what was happening to other tribes. It took way longer than it should have because everyone was very opinionated and wanted to share what they thought, but we pushed our way through it. I think Embry was the most difficult to get to stay focused on the information we were giving them. While Billy was explaining things to Sam, Embry started arguing with me about calling the rabbit 'Snowball'. He said that he needed a manlier name. I'm naturally shy, so it was interesting trying to argue with him. It put me out of my comfort zone, so I ended up curling a little closer to Jacob. Jacob just smiled down at me when I did this and hesitantly reached for my hand. The argument carried on but eventually Embry won and renamed Snowball. Snowball was now called Ace. Personally I didn't think it was a very manly name, but Embry was adamant on naming him that. He thought it was cool, and it reminded me of an ace from a deck of cards.

_"Now what are you arguing about? Do I need to bite someone again?" _Ace questioned, looking up at me from my lap. I couldn't help but smile at him. Somewhere, through everything that has happened to us, we've seemed to form a strong bond.

"No, there is no need for that. Embry has just decided to rename you," I told him, stroking the top of his head and between his eyes. His eyes closed from enjoying the feeling, and if he could have I think he would have had a small smile on his face. It made me pull him close and hugged him. He could be sweet in his own way.  
_"So what will I be called now?" _

"Ace." He looked up at me with a concentrated look, before getting comfortable again. I couldn't tell if he liked it or not. It must not have bothered him too much since he didn't say anything.

"How do you do that?" I nearly jumped out of my skin as Sam's voice broke my train of thought. Without me noticing, my arms wrapped tighter around Ace. With a great deal of will power, I kept myself from shaking like a leaf. While we had been here, Sam has done nothing to put me out of my comfort, but it wasn't that long ago that he had hurt me. The memories were still fresh of what had happened. I'm sure it was an accident and that he didn't mean to, but that trust was gone; and he'd have to earn that back slowly.

"Do what?" I asked him softly, looking him in the eye. The expression in his eyes was gentle, as if he was trying to show me that he didn't want to push me. If he was going to respect me that way then I would respect him by answering his questions.

"How is it that you can talk to the rabbit?" Everyone was looking at me curiously, so I knew everyone had been wondering the same thing.

"It's part of our wisdom. In one of our legends it was said that all creatures were considered part of the tribe, except the cold ones, of course…Anyway, our wisdom allows us to protect the tribe, and in order to protect the tribe we had to understand everyone and everything. My grandfather had the ability to talk to the trees and grass. It made him the most powerful protector because as soon as something foreign stepped on our land the grass would warn him. He started to teach me, but he died before I had completely learned," I told them, they all were processing this and looked like they were off in their own worlds. Turning to Jacob I could see he was thinking about what I had said, but when he noticed me looking at him, a broad smile broke across his face.

"It would seem that you have a strong blood line behind you," Billy stated out loud, he had a concentrated look on his face. Billy was smart and was able to put things together. I believe he would have been an amazing guardian if he had been given the chance.

"If that hunter tries to hurt you again we'll show him just how strong we really are," Embry said loudly, pounding his fist into his hand. Everyone in the room nodded their heads in agreement, which made me smile at them. Jacob showed his agreement by squeezing my hand just a bit tighter. Everyone in the room seemed to pick up on Jacob's gesture and watched us. It was a little uncomfortable.

"Thank you…everyone. But please don't do anything that will put you in danger. Enough of our brothers and sisters have been hurt. We don't need any one else to be as well," I told them all seriously. These protectors had a strong connection; it reminded you of a family. This connection made them stronger, but at the same time it was a weakness. The Hunters would know they cared about each other deeply and go for what would hurt them the most. My eyes drifted over to Emily who was sitting close to Sam, and then to a girl I had met earlier, Kim. Kim was wrapped up in Jared's arms on a recliner. These two would be big targets for the Hunters.

"Don't worry too much about us. We'll figure this out," Sam told me, still being gentle and not too pushy. I got the feeling he would act this way for awhile until he knew that I wasn't afraid of him.

"I suggest you all keep to what you normally do. Don't go looking for the Hunter…leave him to me," I spoke, my voice strong. I left no room for them to change my mind, but that didn't stop them from protesting.

"I'm not letting you go look for that hunter! He almost had you skinned the last time he caught you!" Jacob shouted, jumping from the couch. His fists were balled at his sides, and there was determination set on his face. The muscles in his arms were quivering, that was how strong the emotion coursed through him.

"Jacob calm down!" Sam ordered, also jumping to his feet. Billy stopped him though, and made him sit back down.

"The last time I was caught was an amateur mistake. I did not know the forest well. I do now, and won't let the same thing happen to me. If you guys come across the Hunter he won't give you the chance to protect yourself. He wants me alive, so I have a better chance of surviving…please…let me do this," I pleaded; I didn't like the thought of upsetting them. They had done so much; all I wanted to do now was keep them safe. Slowly I brought my gaze to Jacob's to see the different emotions flashing through his eyes. I could tell this was difficult for him. He didn't want to tell me no, but he also didn't want to put me in danger at the same time.

"Athena you are not bound to us. We cannot order you to what you don't want to do…but we don't want to see you getting hurt. Could you at least take one of us with you when you wonder the woods?" Sam asked me, taking my gaze away from Jacob. His dark eyes were intense as they looked at me; it felt as if he was looking into my very soul. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, and for a moment I could feel his alpha's power and it made me jump to my feet. Instinct kicked in and my lip curled in a slight growl.

"Don't push your alpha abilities upon me. You'll only end up getting yourself hurt." My eyes didn't leave Sam's, and I continued to watch him until I could see the alpha glow in his gaze disappear. That was when I sat back down, letting Ace back on my lap. He jumped off when I had stood up.

"Jacob if I ever go out in the woods I'll make sure I take you with me. If you're not around I'll find someone else. Don't expect me to always do what you want though," I said to him, sending him a heated glare. When I was being pushed by people my shyness would disappear. Being a protector meant you couldn't be shy, you had to know when to stand your ground.

He came towards me and just wrapped his large arms around me. It was like he was trying to curl me into him and away from the world. He buried his face into my hair while he whispered "thank you" softly into my ear over and over again. With a surrendering sigh, I wrapped my arms around him as well. It made me uncomfortable to show such affection in front of others, but I did it anyway. Jacob acted as if he needed this, so I put my comfort aside.

"Someone please kill me," The only girl werewolf, Leah, said. Since I had arrived she has been cold and distant. No one seemed to care for her at all, except for her brother, Seth. Seth seemed like a good kid that only liked to please everyone around him.

"Shut up Leah!" Jacob growled at her, his arm tightening around me. Gently I pushed against him, which made him look at me.

"Leave her alone, Jacob. She doesn't mean any real harm." Everyone looked at me with surprise, including Leah. This just caused me to blush and start to play with Jacob's shirt, since my hands had been resting against his chest. It was a nervous habit of mine.

"Wow, that's a first anyone has ever stood up for Leah," Quil mumbled, even though everyone in the room could hear him. I sent him a slight glare before I looked away from him.

"Alright now that everyone is updated on the situation can we eat? I'm starving over here and tired of listening to everyone talk," Paul stated, glowering from his position against the wall. Everyone chuckled at him, but filed out of the room and moved into the dining room. Emily and Kim got started on making dinner together. I had offered to help, but they just told me to spend time with the pack. So we were all gathered around the table and all the guys were talking…well talking about guy stuff that is. It made me roll my eyes and grow bored. For awhile I just sat there and listened to everyone talk, but it grew boring after awhile and didn't interest me. My gaze started to drift around the room as my interest in the guys quickly lessened. That was when my gaze landed on Leah. She was sitting in the living room by herself on the couch.

Without a second thought I stood up and moved to the living room. If anyone at the table had spoken to me I didn't hear, because I was focused on my destination. Leah didn't hear me when I came from around the couch and near her. It was in the moment that she didn't see me that I got a good look at who she really was when no one was around. Her eyes held a hurt glazed look, and she just picked at her hands. I could feel that the comments the guys made about her actually hurt, even though she'd let no one see. She didn't let them know that though, so they had no idea what damage they were causing her. It made my heart constrict painfully as I looked down at her.

"Do you mind if I sit with you?" I asked her softly, holding my hands together behind my back. Leah's head snapped up in a flash and the vulnerable look that was there before was gone. She now had her strong front back up.

"It's not my house, so it's not like I can tell you no." she told me coldly, I just gave her a friendly smile and sat down next to her. She stared at me strangely for a moment before glaring at the wall in front of us. "So…"

"So…" I said the same way she had; I continued to just watch her. For some reason the fox within me was curious about her, and once the fox is curious there is no stopping it. I probably wouldn't leave Leah alone until I figured out how to feed my curiosity. Silence lapsed between us as we just sat there. I stared at Leah while she stared at the wall. By the way her eyebrow was twitching I could tell that she was growing either annoyed or frustrated with my behavior. It just made me smirk slightly.

"Girl, you are killing me here. What do you want?" She growled, eyeing me out of the corner of my eye. I just gave her a small smile as I situated myself to lean against the arm of the couch, and sit Indian style. It saddened me, somewhat, to think that she had to question what someone wanted when they were in her company.

"Well the guys were having guy talk, Emily and Kim are cooking, and I thought you might like some company. If you don't want me here that's fine, I'll go back to the table," I told her. Like earlier there was a surprised look on her face. It was really starting to rub me wrong that people didn't bother to give her a chance, and didn't bother with her. It made the hair on the back of my neck start to bristle.

"I don't care what the hell you do. You do whatever you want," she said, while folding her arms across her chest. It made my smile return. If it had been anyone else I was sure they would have left her for that comment, but I wasn't anyone else.

"Then I'll stay here. So what's it like being the only girl in the pack? It must be unbearable with all the guys." This was my attempt at starting light conversation and getting Leah to vent. She could use a good venting, and I'm pretty sure no one offered to let her do that with them. Over the years I had learned patience and knew I could handle anything she threw at me.

"You know the one thing you hate the most?" she asked, and for a second I thought about it before nodding, "Well imagine that but only ten times worse. That's what it is like being the only girl. They've never really tried to be kind to me, only when they've need something from me, so I've never bothered to be kind to them. The only one of them I care about is Seth, because he is my brother and is able to see past how I act around everyone else. He is also the only one who cares about me," She stated, the raw emotion evident in her voice. Behind Leah's cold exterior there was a vulnerable and hurt girl. She didn't deserve this. I was a complete stranger who walked in, sat next to her, and offered to listen. That was all it took to get her to open up, yet no one had done that since she had joined the pack.

"I care about you Leah, and if you ever need me I'll listen and be there for you. So far you haven't really done anything to push me away. Yeah, you have your rude remarks, but they don't really bother me…Your tough attitude is actually comforting. Even though everyone seems to have pushed you down you get back up…That's admirable," I told her, sending her a kind look through my eyes. For a few moments she stared at me, a blank expression on her face, before a small smile broke across her face. She closed her eyes and left out a soft chuckle, and laid her head back on the couch.

"You know I don't think Jacob deserves someone like you with such a kind heart," She spoke, her voice soft. There wasn't any hint of the pain anyone had caused her, or the cold tone. This was the real Leah, and I was honored to see it for just a short instant.

"What do you mean?" I questioned her, slightly confused at her compliment.

"When the time is right, Jacob will tell you. Until then you are just going to have to wait. Now after that chick flick moment I am craving some ice cream. What do you say we hit the gas station and get some? I'd even share with you," She spoke with a smug look on her face towards the end of her sentence. A large smile broke across my face as I nodded vigorously at her. I'd never really bonded with anyone who wasn't a fox protector and I felt like the happiest person on the earth that she wanted to spend more time with me. It warmed me up inside that she wanted to do something with me, that wasn't business about the tribe.

"I'd love to!" I said with much enthusiasm, and jumped up from the couch. Leah just chuckled at me as she stood up as well. To my greatest surprise she reached out and lightly grabbed my hand. She pulled me out of the living room and towards the dining room, where everyone was still talking; quite loudly I might add.

"HEY!" Leah shouted, instantly everyone shut up and turned to look at her. There wasn't one pleasant look on anyone's face; they all just look annoyed that she had interrupted them. My hand held Leah's just a bit tighter as I sent a very heated glare at everyone. The annoyed looks disappeared quickly and were replaced with surprise. "Me and Red over here are going out. We'll be back later."

And before anyone could protest we were both out the door and running down the driveway. It'd been decided without words that we were going to travel on foot so we had more time to ourselves. It was that night the Leah and I truly bonded and learned to understand one another.


	7. Imprinting

**I wanted to say thank you to all my readers and reviewers. You're all wonderful! I'd like to say thanks to my beta as well for editting this! She's done a good job!**

I'd now been with Jacob and Billy for about a month now, and what an amazing month it had been. Everyone has become a very important friend of mine, and they quickly made me feel like I was a part of their family. Embry and Quil joked around with me a lot, bringing me out of my shy shell. Leah and Seth would hang out with me every chance they got, but Leah usually sent Seth home so it could be just us girls. Everyone was always over at Emily and Sam's, and they invited us over for dinner all the time. For a few weeks Sam had been careful with me and did his best not to upset me, but I pushed him to the point that he finally snapped. I got really tired of him being so careful with me. I just wanted him to treat me just like anyone else, and now he did. Ace was staying with Emily because he said he enjoyed her company. I think he had a little crush on her and enjoyed all the food she gave him. They were all great with me and Ace. Out of everyone, though, Billy and Jacob have been the greatest. They spent a ton of time with me, and did everything they possibly could to make me comfortable. During the day I would spend most of time with Billy and he would tell me some hilarious stories about Jacob and his sisters. When Jacob found out the stories Billy had been telling me he turned beat red. I couldn't stop laughing when Billy and he started arguing over what stories they could tell me and which ones they couldn't. Then the weekends would be special because we would all just sit around and watch different games on TV. Even though the past month had been the best, the hunter was still out there. Almost every day I went out to look for him, but was never able to find him. Jacob went with me every time I went to look for him. Being in his large wolf form made me feel very protected.

Over the past month Jacob and I had spent the most time together. Sure I spent a lot of time with Leah, but I spent the most time with Jacob. We'd always go on walks along the beach, he'd help me make dinner, and he would talk with me all night when I couldn't sleep. Today, though, he had been acting a little strange. Usually whenever I woke up he was there to greet me with a cup of coffee in his hand, today though he didn't. Then whenever I tried to talk to him, he was always slow to respond. He was always quick to listen to me every time I said something to him, not today though. He would just give me short replies.

"Jacob, do you want anything for breakfast?" I asked him, coming into the living room with a bowl of cereal in my hands. He was just sitting on the couch, staring at the TV. There wasn't even anything on the TV.

"No," He said, using a very monotone voice. While I stood there, watching him, it didn't even seem like he was present. It was as if his mind was in a different place, and that everything around him didn't matter.

"Ok then." With that I took my bowl of cereal upstairs and into my room. It use to be Rachel's old room, but Billy told me to move in there. Emily and Kim had been nice enough to go out and get me clothes, along with other womanly necessities.

The bed was pushed up against the wall and next to the window. Before it had been placed in the middle of the room, which gave it a more feminine look, not any more though. The only other major object in the room was the dresser, and a shelf the Quil decided to make me for some books. Other than that it was a rather plain room. Eventually I'd paint the room, but until then it'd have to do. Careful not to spill my cereal, I flopped back against my pillow and ate in silence. My mind was wrapped around Jacob and why he was acting weird.

**Maybe I did something wrong. He could have got tired of staying up with me at night, but he didn't have to come to my room. If he wanted more sleep than he should've just stayed in his own room. Or he could just be tired of my company, and me being around… **As I continued to think the more depressed I grew. The way he was acting was really making it seem like I had done something wrong. I had no idea what I did though.

_Death…_ A very feminine voice whispered to me. Instantly I sat up, my eyes wide and breathing heavy. Since I'd come to La Push I hadn't heard that voice. Now that it was here, I knew it was important. Quickly and silently I got off the bed, and put my bowl on top of the dresser. On silent feet I moved around the room and opened the window, before I jumped out though I paused.

**Maybe Jacob just needs some time alone. I'll give him his space while I…take care of this. **With that I climbed out the window and jumped to the ground. There wasn't a single rustle to let anyone know I was leaving. I glanced back at the house one more time before taking off at a fast sprint towards the beach. The beach wasn't that far away so it wouldn't take me long.

_Death…_ That word made me run harder and faster. I was wearing nothing but socks, and my feet were getting badly cut up. The pain didn't stop me, not until I was standing on the shore line. The sky was covered in gray stormy clouds and there was a strong breeze. It whipped my hair in my face, breaking the contact I had with the sea.

"I'm listening now. Tell me what you know," I spoke out loud, glancing around to see if there was anyone around. When I had first become a fox I'd made the mistake of communicating with my wisdom when others were around. A rumor got started I was crazy, but after awhile it settled down.

_Jacob…has a life filled with death…_ As the voice spoke it felt as if someone was whispering against my ear. It caused goose bumps to cover my skin.

"Who has died around him?" I questioned, glancing at my feet for a moment. It made my insides burn to think that Jacob had to go through the pain of losing someone he cared about. This brought back memories of what I had gone through.

_Family…a lover…_ My breath caught in my throat. Jacob had a lover and… had lost her. That was one of the worst pains you could go through, to lose your love. It saddened my horribly to think of what he must of gone through. And now, for some reason, I was feeling torn up inside. It confused me more than anything, and that was what brought the tears to my eyes. It hurt so bad.

"Did it hurt him? When he lost those he cared about," My voice cracked as I asked the question, but I couldn't help it.

_When has it ever not hurt…to lose those you care about…_ The voice had now changed to that of a masculine one. Wisdom came from every fox, and each fox knew something specific. Each fox had a Speaker and many Providers. The Speaker was the one who came to you, to share wisdom about a specific event that was happening in the present. It was also the one who answered your questions, but when it thought it was important it would stay quiet. Sometimes it thought it was best that a fox learned on its own. It basically guided you to new knowledge. This was how new wisdom was created, by the Speaker guiding the fox to learning. The Providers were deceased foxes. When a horrific event happened to them they would carry it on into the afterlife. It was then that they would share what they learned from those horrible events, to the present living foxes. It was always hard to imagine what they went through.

"What am I suppose to do?" I asked, my voice sounding rather dejected. There wasn't a reply though, just silence. Slowly I sunk to the ground, and just stared off into the distance. I tried to think of what Jacob could have gone through, but my mind was wrapped around the pain in my chest. It was at moments like this that I wished that my mother was still around. She would hold me close, stroke my hair, and whisper reassuring words to me. "If you were still here none of this would be happening…I wouldn't be all alone, and I wouldn't have to deal with this pain alone. I'm so confused. You should still be here to help me. Why…why'd you have to die? I still need you," It was then that the tears just started pouring out. There was no stopping them and there was no controlling. I pulled my knees up to my chest and buried my face in them. I couldn't tell if I was actually hurting for my own pain, Jacob's pain, or a combination of both.

The wind started to grow stronger and stronger, which made the waves come closer to me and made my hair whip around. The white foamy waves licked at my toes, instantly soaking my socks through. I had been cold before, but now with wet feet it was even worse. With a great deal of might I tried to hold back my shivering, but it no was use. Nothing around me mattered, just the pain in my chest. I knew I was being selfish, for acting this way, but I couldn't help myself. For one moment I wanted to let everything go, but I couldn't bring myself to completely let go, because I knew Jacob was the one who was actually hurting. It wasn't my time to be heartbroken, it was Jacob's.

With that thought of Jacob, I wiped away my tears and did my best to calm myself. For what seemed like hours I sat there, an empty shell that just stared off at the ocean. My clothes were thoroughly soaked because a moist fog had drifted in, settling into my very bones. I knew I could get sick from this, but I didn't move. Every time I tried to move my joints would cry out in protest, whenever I moved them a hot pain would shoot through my limbs. Now I had to wait until someone found me. I didn't count on Jacob finding me because he was just sitting on the couch, and Billy had gone out for the day. No one really knew I was gone.

_He'll come…_ The women's voice spoke to me. It was rare for her to talk to me more than once a day.

"Why would he come? He didn't even notice me leave," I mumbled, more to myself than her. No matter what, though, she could still hear me.

_Because you are the one…you are his imprint…_ With those few words I knew she was gone. It bothered me because now I was completely confused. I had no idea what an imprint was.

**What's an imprint? **I didn't have long to think about it though because I could hear someone running along the beach. They were silent, but my keen ears were able to pick up the quiet sound. Fear instantly bubbled up inside me because it was possible it was the hunter. There was nobody with me, and I could hardly move. This would be easy pickings for him. With what little strength I had left I attempted to push myself up, but it was no use; my focus on moving was broken as I whipped my head around to see someone standing not too far away. My fear was so great that tears threatened to spill. Closing my eyes I waited for the anticipated attack.

"Athena?!" Before I could look at him, I was tackled to the ground and covered with a warm body. To my greatest surprise it was Jacob. He was here, and holding me tightly against his chest. Over and over again he whispered my name, while he rocked me back and forth. He now had me in his lap as he sat back on the sand. Every time I tried to push him away to look at him he would just wrap his arms tighter around me.

"Jacob-" I didn't get a chance to finish my sentence, because Jacob pushed me out in front of him and began to look me over. I knew he was checking for any visible wounds and nothing else, but it still made me blush.

"Don't you ever, EVER leave like that again! I had no idea where you were, and with that hunter still around I didn't know if he had taken you. God, Athena, you scared me to death," Jacob said, his eyes and face showing just how distressed he really was. It crushed me inside to see him like this, to know I was the one who did this to him. I think it was then that I vowed I would never do something like this to him again.

"I'm sorry…I just thought that you wanted to be alone…" I whispered, looking down at his chest. Whenever we were this close my hands would automatically hold on to his t-shirt. For some reason it was a habit I started and couldn't break.

"Why would you think I wanted to be alone?" Jacob asked me, confusion laced with his voice. A blush appeared on my face because I knew this was going to be awkward. We were silent for a couple of minutes as I tried to bring myself to speak, but it was no use. "Athena?"

"The people you love…they died. You weren't responding to anything I said, so I thought you wanted to be alone to deal with your feelings," I told him, glancing up at him through my eyelashes. The blush darkened against my cheeks.

"How'd you know about my mom?" He questioned me; placing his fingers under my chin and making me look up at him. Sometimes having wisdom was both a gift and a curse. It taught you many important things, but would pry into things that you didn't want to.

"It wasn't just your mom, Jacob. I know you're in love with a girl, who you lost; and that you were thinking about her. My wisdom told me, let me know you were hurting," I spoke softly; I knew he wouldn't be angered with me easily but I didn't want to push it. I was prying into his personal business and shouldn't have been. Plus the kind and gentle Jacob was the only Jacob I knew. I wasn't sure I wanted to meet the angry one.

"I'm not in love with **that **girl any more. She is long gone…but I have someone new I care about," He said, softly towards the end of his sentence. He was now the one to look down and not meet my eye. Jacob wasn't a shy boy, so my curiosity was peaked.

"Who do you care about, Jacob?" I asked him gently. Without my knowing, my hands went to the sides of his face and pushed him up; making him look me in his eyes. My thumbs began to rub his cheeks softly, and in a soothing manner. For some reason my shyness didn't hold me back; it let me do this.

"I…I care about….I care about you Athena. There isn't anyone else but you," Jacob admitted, looking me straight in the eye. My breath caught in my throat as I took in all the emotions appearing in his eyes. His gaze was nothing but soft and gentle, as if willing me to understand. My arms tingled with the want to just wrap themselves around Jacob's neck and hold him close, but I stopped myself; I had a question I needed answered.

"Is that what an Imprint is, someone you care about?" I inquired, watching as surprise filled his face. He blinked at me a few times before he actually said anything to me.

"Where'd you hear that?" He questioned, leaning back slightly but not to the point that my hands were removed from his face. Slowly though I did remove them and placed them on his shoulders.

"Well my wisdom…told me I was your imprint. It didn't really tell me what an imprint was though…" I told him, looking at him to my hands on his shoulders. It was a nervous habit of mine, not to keep a steady gaze.

"I didn't want to tell you this till you were ready, but I know since you are asking you are going to want answers now. Sometimes I wish you weren't such a curious little fox," He smirked at me, making me blush once more, "Well imprinting is a werewolf thing. You see it helps us wolves find our…soul mates. Imprinting finds our partner that we are meant to be with forever. We become anything for them like a brother, father, friend, or a lover. This is also a way to help ensure that the bloodline keeps going, and that the offspring will be stronger than before. It also ensures that the tribe will have protectors," He explained to me. I thought it wasn't possible for me to turn any redder, but when he mentioned soul mates I think I was as red as a tomato. Now that he had answered me I think I just had more questions.

"How do you know when you find your imprint?" He just smiled down at me, and put us in a more comfortable position; I think he could tell we were in for a long talk. I was now sitting between his legs, his arms wrapped around my waist, and my back leaning against his chest. His warmth instantly flowed through me and heated up my chilled bones.

"When we find our imprints the world shifts. Nothing else matters but them. They are all we can think about, and all we want to do is make them happy, and keep them safe. With you running off like you did made that difficult though. Anyway, we do everything we can to take care of them. Sort of like a wolf does in the wild when they find their mate," Jacob enlightened to me the best he could. I knew that the sensation of finding your imprint was more than you could put into words, I could tell just by Jacob's body language.

"But…it's not really love is it? I mean you're just finding what will make the pack stronger in the future. You're not really in love with your partner; you're just trying to keep the tribe safe. Am I wro-" Before I could finish my sentence he had me whipped around so fast that it made my head spin. I was now face to face with Jacob and I couldn't tell if he was angry or upset.

"It has nothing to do with the pack's strength. It is about finding the person you love! If you wanted me to forget the pack I would. You just have to tell me that. If you want a fancier life you just have to tell me that. Anything you want. Just tell me and it's yours. Athena don't you get it! You're all that matters!" With that his arms tightened around me and pulled me closer. Before I even knew what was happening I felt his hot lips upon mine. At first I froze, still trying to process what he had said, but the tightening in my stomach was distracting me. His strong hands rubbed at my back and that was all the encouragement I needed to respond to him. He gently pushed me back into the sand and laid on top of me. My hands wrapped around his neck and pulled him closer. His kiss was gentle yet showed just how much he cared. It made my head spin and forget everything around me. Just when I thought I would melt into the sand he pulled away, breathing heavy. "Athena, I must ask…don't you have something like imprinting?"

I thought about it for a second before coming up with an explanation for him, "You guys have imprinting to pass down physical strength to your next generation of pack. For us our strength doesn't come physically but mentally, through our wisdom. When we die our wisdom is just passed on to another living fox. If there aren't any other living foxes left the wisdom is created in a new fox; but if a foxes fur is kept then the wisdom is said to stay with it. That's why when we are dying we do everything we possibly can to make sure no one is able to take our fur. And that is why the hunter is killing me off quickly. He wants my fur to have the wisdom."

Jacob's arms tightened around me and pulled me closer. "You never have to worry about dying. I'm always going to be here to protect you. Whether you tell me to or not, I'll be there." The gentle look was back on his face, and I knew he was going to kiss me again. This time I was ready and already leaning in.

"Well isn't this sweet. The mutt has fallen for the little fox. Never thought I'd live to see the day when that happened. After all aren't dogs the ones that hunt foxes?" My head whipped around to see the hunter not too far away, gun cocked and lazily pointing at us. There was an evil smirk on his face as he watched the fear take over me.


	8. Separation

**Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing! It's great to hear from you all. Hope you enjoy!**

The Hunter continued to just stand there, not saying word but just smirking at us. His gun was pointed more at Jacob than at me, and that was what really scared me. The thought of Jacob being hurt or worse, made my insides freeze. I couldn't let anything happen to him, especially after I learned what my feelings for him really were.

"Alright, fox, get over here or I shoot him? And lover boy, don't do anything stupid," The Hunter threatened, waving his gun around lazily as if this was just a game. When I moved to go to the Hunter Jacob tightened his arm around me. For a few seconds my eyes met with his and his gaze told me not to leave him. There was no other option though; I couldn't let Jacob get hurt. "Hurry up!"

Quickly I scrambled to my feet and started to walk towards the Hunter. A tingling in my spine, my steps falter though. I turned around and saw that Jacob was now standing, a deadly look on his face and every part of him shaking. His gaze was cold and filled with hatred, and it scared me even though it hadn't been aimed at me. I willed him to look at me, for just a moment, but he kept his gaze over my shoulder and toward the Hunter behind me.

A surprised scream escaped me when I felt myself being yanked back by my hair. Fingers dug into my scalp painfully, making my hands reach up instinctively to take them out of my hair. Next thing I knew there was a body pressed to my back and a face close to mine. I could feel my eyes widen in fright as I stared at the Hunter that was so close to me. It made me freeze and stop struggling. He didn't look at me though and looked ahead of us, at Jacob. It was then that I knew he was taunting Jacob, egging him on. The look on Jacob's face was scary before, but now…I couldn't even put into words how he looked. Fury was written all over his face and in his eyes. Most guys would be wetting themselves if they were in a situation like this, but Jacob wasn't. I realized how powerful imprinting was at that moment, and that Jacob was serious about doing whatever it took to protect his imprint.

"Alright, pretty boy, you just need to back off. You do anything stupid and I won't hesitate to shoot her. Of course I'm not going to kill her, but I don't think she wants to experience the shattering of bones from my shot. So why don't you turn around, walk away, and let me deal with this pretty fox," the guy said, his tone completely sardonic, but serious about the harm he would cause. I didn't dare shake in fear because I knew he would be satisfied. My fear was beginning to be replaced with anger. This was my home and this Hunter was threatening it. This was where my family lived and I wouldn't let him do any harm to them. I was a fox, the last fox with all the wisdom, and more importantly I was a protector.

Slowly I took my hands out of my hair and balled them at my side. Calmly I closed my eyes and took in even breathes. Wisdom couldn't be called on demand, but at the moment I had to summon. Everything around me faded as I imagined myself surrounded by darkness. With a great deal of mental strength I called out to the wisdom. I could even feel my very soul calling out to the wisdom. For a few moments I was surrounded by the darkness, but then images slowly began to flash before me. The images were of foxes that had died, fighting against all of our enemies. The foxes were both fighting Hunters and older foes, enemies from when my tribe had first been born. In all of the fights there was death and bloodshed, but I kept watching, my determination keeping me from looking away. As one image faded into another I slowly began to learn how to defeat my foe standing behind. It'd never been required for me to fight, so I had never learned. Now was the perfect time to learn, and what other better then to use my ancestors…my family.

The darkness disappeared and my gaze returned to the sight of Jacob. His look of anger was still there but I could see a questioning look in his eyes. The shy Athena was pushed aside and now I could feel my fighting self take over. A smirk broke across my face as I stared at Jacob for a moment. The questioning look turned to worry as he slowly reached a hand out, as if he was going to grab me. The Hunter's grip on me tightened, which made me smirk even more. The muscles along my shoulders and in my arms tensed up for just a few moments. Everything I did next happened in a few seconds. My knees bent slightly as I slammed my elbow into the Hunter's ribs. I didn't have time to think about the feeling of his ribs breaking under my elbow, because I quickly spun around, barely missing the bullet of the gun. The hearing in my right ear went out because the gun went off right next to it. Not thinking about the pain in my ear, I twirled away from him, almost like a dancer. Before he had time to shoot again, I kicked him in his broken ribs then kicked at his wrist, which made him release the gun.

The Hunter was sprawled out in the sand and letting out groans of pain, so I let my guard down and smiled. Looking behind me, I laughed at Jacob's surprised face. I'd never seen that expression on his face and it was rather funny. Fully turning around I started to walk towards him, ignoring the Hunter's groans of pain. Gently I rubbed at my head where my hair had been pulled at. The skin was tender and I quickly moved my hand away from it. All I could really think about was being close to Jacob again, and holding him close. He had to have been thinking the same thing, because he too started to make his way towards me. His expression was no longer surprised, but happy. There was a huge smile on his face that made me tingle inside. I was just about to run towards him, when his smile disappeared. In slow motion, I watched as his eyes widened and fear took over his face.

"ATHENA LOOK OUT!" Everything happened so fast that I couldn't even tell what was going on. All I could hear was the tearing of clothes, followed by a furious growl, and then a gun shot. My insides turned cold as I stood in place, frozen with fear. Every part of me began to tremble. My hair whipped in front of me as the wind picked up again. Fearing the worst, I closed my eyes as if I was in pain; and slowly turned around. Tears pricked at my eyes as I took deep breaths in, trying to calm myself. It was no use though, because I finally opened my eyes.

There, lying in a heap in the sand was Jacob. To my horror there was a puddle of blood forming on him. As the blood grew so did the amount of tears I shed. My lungs burned with for oxygen because I could no longer breathe. I could feel the sobs in my throat ready to rip out, my throat burned so bad because of it. Slowly I moved towards him, hand stretched out and shaking. This wasn't happening, this was all I nightmare I was having back at home after I finished my cereal. When I fell to my knees, and felt the russet fur between my fingers, I knew this was actually happening.

"Aw the poor fox. She has gone and lost someone she loves. That's just too bad," The Hunter taunted me, his gun pointed at me once more. The will that I had before to fight was now gone. Jacob had been my reason to fight, and now that he was like this that will was gone. "If only you had listened to what I said. If you had just come with me, you wouldn't have had to watch him die."

"You're nothing but a vile monster! How could you do this to someone! He was nothing but an inn-"

"Sweetheart you brought death to this tribe by stepping onto these lands. I'm just following orders of killing the Protectors I stumble upon. You came here, so I kill them. This really is your entire fault. Just ask that oh so wonderful wisdom of yours. I'm sure it'll be able to tell you that. Now get up! I'm tired of this beach and all these filthy dogs," He ordered, his gun now cocked and ready for fire. His eyes burned with a fierce hatred that made me shudder. It didn't matter now if I lived or died, Jacob was all alone on a beach with no one to help him.

I buried my face into fur, my hands clamped in the silky fur as well, as I just sobbed into him. "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry Jacob. Please forgive. This wasn't supposed to happen," I choked out, my chest heaving painfully with another sob. It felt as if my lungs were going to burst because I was sobbing so hard. My cheeks burned because of the tear streaming from my eyes. I couldn't even see Jacob clearly because my eyes were blurred so badly from the tears.

"I'm not going to repeat myself foxy. Get up and away from the dog. We've got places to go and people to see. I've got a lovely girlfriend who can't wait be the one to wear your fur. So what do you say? Why don't you stop blubbering and we'll be on our way," The Hunter spoke in a careless and masochistic voice. With another quiet 'sorry' I placed a gentle kiss on Jacob's forehead and stood up. My hands were clenched at my sides as I stood up and walked to the Hunter. My gaze stayed with the ground because I refused to look at him. Everything he said didn't matter to me. All I could think about was Jacob and the pain I felt in my chest. The pain was familiar because I had felt it when my parents and brother died, but now…it seemed so much worse. When I stood before the Hunter he wrapped his fingers tightly around my arm and tugged me along the beach.

Whimpers could be heard from behind us and I yanked the Hunter to a stop. When I turned myself around, I watched as Jacob struggled to stand up. It made the pain in my chest grow even more. Even though he was wounded he was still trying to get up, and help me. "Just stay down, Jacob, please," I whispered, my voice cracking from all the tears. Just before he fell back to the ground, his eyes connected with mine. It was in that moment I looked into his gaze that I knew. Jacob Black didn't go down so easily, and that'd he come for me. His eyes burned with a fire as he looked at me, doing everything that he could to let me know he'd come for me.

"Stupid mutt," With that I was yanked and dragged down the beach. Many times I stumbled in the sand and almost fell over, and all the Hunter would do was tighten his grip on my arm and drag me on. The sky was quickly darkening as storm clouds rolled in. You could see the lightening within the clouds flash as they prepared to connect with the ground. It made me tremble because I knew that the thunder would follow, just like it had when I first came to La Push.

Just when the rain started to fall we came to a lone black Topkick parked on the beach, with windows tinted as black as night. The engine rumbled loudly, and the headlights flashed on when we got close to it. Someone was in the truck, and for some reason that scared me more than the Hunter did. With some rough rope the Hunter tied my hands together, before he opened the door and tossed me in. The inside of the cab was freezing and made my spine tingle. When I was finally able to stand up my eyes connected with a red pair. Just when I was about to jump back from those intense eyes, I was shoved closer. I was now sitting in the middle of a cab between a Hunter and a vampire.

**There is no way I'm going to get out of this, **I thought, as the truck started to move. Both the Hunter and the vampire were smirking, and I didn't even have to look at them to know that. The vampire was a beautiful women with curly blonde hair, and she looked tall by the way she was carrying herself. She was dressed in fashionable clothes – the ones you would never see someone in La Push, or this general area wearing. Her nails were long and painted red, making them seem deadly. As I took in the way she looked I had to keep my breathing under control, or she would be able to sense my fear. I was pretty sure she already knew I was scared though.

"Job well done, Mathew. You've gone and made a lot of people happy, me especially." At the end of her sentence she looked over at Mathew with a seductive look. You didn't even have to look at Mathew to know he was putty in her hands. It made me want to gag myself. They could at least do this while I wasn't present.

"I knew how badly you wanted a fur coat, Baby. Now you'll get that and so much more," Mathew told her, and now the vampire was the one being putty in his hands. These two seemed to be a perfect match. Doing my best to ignore them, I stared out the windshield. This vampire was driving at an unimaginable speed and not even looking at the road. It made me nervous so I tried to think of something else. The only thing that came to mind was the picture of Jacob and the blood that had been pooling around him. Tears pricked at my eyes as I thought of him, the pain in my chest making its presence known; not that it ever really went away. Whatever conversation between Mathew and the women were having stopped and they just stared at me. It made my spine tingle. I wanted so badly to phase and attack the women next to me. It was natural instinct.

"What's the matter sweetheart? Are you afraid of what's going to happen to you," The women said, lightly caressing my face. I may have been able to hold back the urge to phase, but not the snarl that escaped me. She didn't like the fact that I was snarling at her because she quickly pulled her hand back and smacked me, hard, across the face. As her cold hand left my skin I knew that a bruise would form in no time. "We'll not be having any rude manners like that. Just sit tight and this will all be over before you know it."

The unknown future scared me more than anything, because I had no idea what my fate was going to be.

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There comes a time when everyone has to put aside their differences. For most that is a difficult thing to do, but no matter the circumstances Protectors come together. They are always there to help each other in their time of need. All they have to do is ask, and their family will be there for them. That is why it is important for Protectors to know one another, so they can help one another in their time of need. Without that bond…they are nothing.

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It was now past midnight and we were still driving. Rain poured from the sky in buckets, and the thunder and lightning raged on. Within the cab of the truck everything was at peace, but outside it looked like a war zone. Even with the heater on I had chills, the world outside looked frightening. The woman, who I learned was named Valerie, continued to drive on as if the change in weather didn't affect her driving. Every so often you could feel the truck hydroplane, and it was horribly terrifying, but she always managed to keep the vehicle under control. Next to me Mathew was asleep and snoring quite loudly. Even though the sound was annoying, I was glad he was asleep.

Valerie showed no signs of stopping as she focused on the road. I tried to stay focused as well, but I was quickly falling asleep. Every so often I would nod off, and shake myself awake. It was becoming pointless though because I knew I would soon be asleep. Fear of what would happen if I was to fall asleep kept me up. The cold hand that started to caress my hair quickly put me to sleep.

**Please Jacob…help me…** With that last thought I was out and fast asleep. There was no peace with this sleep though, because it was field with nightmares of what had happened to Jacob; and what could happen to the rest of the pack.

"_Come on Athena it's time for dinner! That goes for the rest of you too, if you're hungry," Emily shouted from her porch, Sam was behind her with his arms wrapped around her waist. He was smiling down at her lovingly and I knew they were off in their own little world. It made a smile grow on my face, to watch the two of them. They were so perfect together._

"_Stop day dreaming, Red. It's time to eat!" Leah exclaimed, tugging on my arm and getting me moving. I was surrounded by the entire pack as we made our way towards Sam and Emily. They were all looking at me with kind looks, making me feel a part of their family. Embry pushed Leah out of the way and looped his arm through mine, while Quil looped his arm on my other side. Pretty soon everyone was bickering about who was going to walk next to me, and I couldn't help but laugh. This was how I liked things, for everyone to be happy._

_When I turned to look back at Emily and Sam there was something in front of their house that made me stop. My eyes widened in fear and my lungs closed up. There on the ground was Jacob, Mathew standing above him proudly. That smirk was on his face and his gun was resting on his shoulder. Leah, Quil, Embry, Seth, Kim, Paul, Jared, Collin, and Brady all walked on without me, continuing to horse around with one another. No one acted as if they saw Mathew. Not even when he raised his gun and took aim._

"_LOOK OUT!" No one heard my cry though. Slowly I watched as he shot my friends…my family down. I watched as the life drained from their eyes when the bullet hit them. None of them cried out in pain, or noticed that they were being shot. The sound of the gun continued to ring in my ear, even after the friends I had been walking with were all lying on the ground. The grass they laid in was completely tainted with blood, and was no longer golden._

_Looking up I saw that Sam and Emily were still off in their own little world, not taking notice of Mathew. Before Mathew turned on them he gave a sadistic smile that made my heart stop beating. It felt like someone was digging a knife into my chest, my horror and sorrow was so great. And then I watched as he turned on Sam and Emily. "EMILY! SAM!" Then two shots rang out, followed by Emily and Sam tumbling to the ground together. The tears pricked at my eyes as I watched the life drain from their eyes._

_Mathew turned back around, that smirk still on his face, and looked at me. Slowly he lifted the gun and pointed it at me in a lazy manner. "Guess what…You're next!" Everything went black then, and all that could be heard was a gun shot._

For hours I tossed and turned in my sleep, but I couldn't bring myself to wake up. I was covered in a sheen of sweat, and shaking from the nightmares. Something was wrong. I should have been able to wake up, but I couldn't. Even in my unconscious mind, which was filled with these horrible nightmares, I knew that something wasn't right. Either I had been drugged or the vampire, Valerie, had an ability that I hadn't realized. The longer I stayed asleep the worse my nightmares became. And the first one was horrible.

The roar of thunder finally tore through my sleep and startled me awake. A growl came from Valerie and that's when I figured out she had been the one to keep me asleep. A snarl of my own escaped me; it was only natural to snarl at her for growling at me. Just like earlier though she didn't like that and raised her hand. My eyes tightened, preparing for the pain, but it never came. Instead there was the horrifying sound of a tire bursting, and then the truck spinning on the soaked road out of control. Valerie did her best to correct the truck, but it was no use because we were quickly headed down the hill next to the road, and towards a large tree. A scream tore through my throat as I watched in horror as we collided with the tree. Glass shattered everywhere. My forehead collided with the dash and everything grew dark.


	9. To The Beach

**I'd like to say thank you to all my great reviewers and all those readers. I'm hoping you all are enjoying this story. And here is another shout out to my Beta! She's been great with editing this!**

"This is great, just great! Mathew, where's the spare tire," Valerie growled, the pouring rain drowning out her voice. Slowly I sat up, groaning at the pain that pulsed through my body. When I lifted my head up, I was blinded for awhile because the pain was so horrible. In the corner of my vision there were shadows, while everything else was blurry. I just kept squinting my eyes and blinking, trying to make the shadows disappear. It was the most pain, I believe, I had ever felt. Taking deep, slow breaths, helped with the pain; but I had a major migraine that was killing me. When I was finally able to see, I saw that the windshield was shattered, barely keeping the rain out; and both side windows were completely gone. There wasn't even a trace that there had been windows there in the first place. "Tires hardly ever blow out! Especially on my vehicles! Mathew, where is that spare!?"

"I'm getting it! Just relax, my god," Mathew grumbled to himself. Looking behind me I watched as water streamed through the broken back window, and onto Mathew. Mathew was soaked from head to toe, and shivering like a leaf. His lips were a distinct blue, and his hands were shaking so bad that he could hardly move anything. For a moment I almost felt sorry for him, but he didn't deserve this. "How are we even suppose to drive if we don't have any windows?!"

"I'm doing all the driving, so there is nothing for you to worry about! We have to get out of these woods before those stupid wolves come," Valerie snapped, her lip curling back into a snarl. The next step in their relationship was probably them killing each other, at least at the rate they were going. It could have been a love-hate relationship though.

My clothes were quickly growing damp with the water that was coming into the cab. Pretty soon I was shivering like a leaf, and I could feel my lips turning blue. Mathew had finally gotten the tire out of the trunk and was now putting it on the truck. Valerie had the truck lifted up with one hand, as if it was the easiest thing in the world for her.

_Run…_ My breath caught in my throat as my wisdom spoke to me. For once I was questioning what my wisdom was telling me to do, and that was the number one rule to becoming a fox. Never question your wisdom. _Run now…_

Tears pricked at my eyes as my heart told me to run, but my mind told me to stay. My eyes closed in frustration as my body did what it wanted. The clothes on my body tore away and soon I was standing on four paws. The rain was able to drown out the sound of my clothes tearing and the sound of me ripping the rope off. Then with precision I jumped out the window. When my feet met the ground it was nothing but mud, and made me slip farther down the incline we had been on. The only thing that stopped me was a fallen log that I slid into. I was almost knee dip in mud, and the pelting rain wasn't helping. I was constantly shaking my head to get the water out of my eyes. The rain drenched my coat so much that it weighed me down slightly, making it harder to run. The mud came clear up to my ankles and if I stayed in one spot too long I would continued to sink.

I jumped over the fallen log and just ran, dodging bushes and anything else that was in my path. Lightning continued to flash, and the thunder roared, making everything in the forest more frightening than it actually was. Trees swayed back and forth, groaning as the wind pushed them where they shouldn't have been moving. My sense of direction was completely gone, and all I did was run. My instinct and fear is what kept pushing me forward. Even when my eyes stung from the rain, my ears rang from the loud thunder, and my lungs burned from breathing so hard, I kept running.

Mathew or Valerie had to of noticed I was gone by now, but they had no way of tracking me. The rain, along with the mud, would have washed my scent away. Valerie wouldn't be able to smell me out, but that didn't slow me down or reassure me. I had to get as far away from them as possible. The lightning was blinding, though, and constantly frightened me more than I was before. I came close to running into trees because the lightning would blind me for a few moments, and that's how I got so turned around. **Just keep running…don't look back…**

It felt like my heart was going to burst out of my chest it was beating so fast. That is until it completely stopped. Fear froze my heart, because I could no longer feel ground beneath me. I was free falling down the side of a cliff. When the lightning flashed I could see jagged rocks jutting out from the cliff and in the choppy sea below. If I could have, I would have screamed, but no one would hear because there was no one around; and the thunder would drown me out anyway. It was as if everything slowed down at the moment. For just a few seconds I could see each individual rain drop as it fell from the sky, and below me I could make out the details of the foam atop the waves. Then when the lightning flashed I could see all the rocks waiting in the deep water for me. And as soon as it started it was over, I was once again tumbling to the ocean. There was no way to stop, and no way to escape. My toes spread out in anticipation and I closed my eyes. Just as I knew I would hit the water I took a deep breath, and clamped my jaws shut, refusing to let what little breath I had escape me. Then I hit the water, and it felt like a wall of concrete. I didn't even get a chance to fight the current because it swept me up. It slammed me into rocks and spun me in every direction, no matter what, though, I didn't let my air escape. The breath I held was the only thing that gave me a chance of surviving. The water carried me out farther and farther into the ocean and dragged me deeper and deeper into its depths. The farther down I went the more the pressure grew on me, and the faster I lost consciousness.

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"Mommy, Mommy! Look what I found!" A shrill little girl's voice shouted, and then I felt something soft be placed against my forehead. Carefully I nudged whatever I was in contact with, needing to feel something solid. I attempted to move, but every fiber of me cried out in protest. It even hurt to make my noise twitch.

"Get away from that Allie!" With that the contact to my forehead was gone, "What have I told you about playing with wild animals, honey?"

"But Mommy!" And with that the voices began to fade and disappear. After that I just laid there for what seemed like hours, not bothering to move. I figured with time the aches and pains would go away, or a human would find me and call the animal shelter. One of the two had to happen eventually. I'd been hoping for the latter, but no other people happened to wonder upon me. So for a few hours I just laid there, taking deep breaths. My throat was completely parched, and I was craving something to drink horribly. It was my thirst that finally got me up and moving. Looking around all I could see was ocean and tall grass. Way down the beach I could make out what looked like people, and lots of them. I could tell that there was no water around that I could drink, so I jumped in the grass and moved towards the people. If I got close enough I would be able to ease drop on what they were saying.

Sand clung to my wet paws as I walked through it, and it was the most irritating thing. All I wanted to do was wash it out of each of my legs. I pushed myself on, though, and did my best to ignore the uncomfortable feeling. The grass I traveled in wasn't the most comfortable thing either, but I managed. The grass was a golden color and swayed in the wind. I would be able to blend in with it alright, but people would be able to see me if they were watching the grass. Although, they should be looking at the ocean. It took me awhile but I finally caught up to the large gathering of people. Everyone had their own fires cooking, along with food, and the majority of the people were flying their kites. Kids were everywhere, playing in sand, and running through the water. Everyone seemed so happy. Slowly, and carefully I inched closer to a large group of people. They consisted mostly of adults, but there were still quite a few kids. Crouching low, I silently moved the grass and got closer to their group, which was gathered around a fire.

"Honey, will you grab me a beer?"

"Where's Tom and Chris with our food?!"

"Do you think we should go swimming?"

"Hey let's play a game!"

There were so many conversations going on I couldn't focus on one person. It was confusing and difficult to listen to one person. The guy who asked for the beer got one, the other guy who asked where the food was didn't get an answer, the women who asked about swimming appeared in a bathing suit, and the guy who wanted to play a game got rejected; but some other guy offered to toss the football around with him. There was so much going on with these people that I thought about moving on to a smaller group, but changed my mind when a guy walked about in a baseball uniform. The guy had a girl companion who was also in baseball uniform, so I figured they were playing softball; since women didn't play baseball. They could have been on a coed softball team. The two plopped down in the closest available chairs and let out a couple of sighs.

"Hey, Steve, Linda, man you guys looked exhausted." The guy with the beer bellowed. Linda yawned at that moment, showing her fatigue, while Steve started rubbing his shoulder. Steve looked sorer than anything.

"Oh we are. I'm ready to just head back to the cabin and take a nap for the rest of the day. They were throwing some fast pitches, and I don't think I've swung so hard in my life!" Steve said, rolling his shoulders and neck, "You should have seen Linda over here. She was booking it faster than I've ever seen her go."

"If I didn't push myself faster we wouldn't have had anyone on base. Those guys barely gave us a chance to get past first. And did you see those guys in the outfield? Man they were diving in every direction for the ball just to get us out. They even caught Tony's hit! I'm sure 17 is going to be sore from that," Linda rambled on, making the game sound pretty extreme. I'd never really seen a softball game, so I had no idea if what she was talking about was a good game or not.

"Hey how did the games go?" Football guy asked, appearing out of nowhere and sitting down next to them. Steve and Linda looked up at him with blank looks. I couldn't tell if they had lost or won. They had played multiple games apparently, so they could have lost some and won some.

"Well we beat Vancouver but Long Beach smoked us!" The girl, Linda, complained with a disappointed look on her face. The guy next to her, Steve, gave her a light push as he laughed at her.

"It is their field though, so I would hope they win. It always sucks when you lose your home games," Steve said, trying to give Long Beach credit. Their conversation continued to carry on but I didn't pay attention any more. All my mind could wrap around was the words 'Long Beach'. I'd been swept all the way to Long Beach?! How was that even possible? I collapsed in the sand and grass, trying to let this sink in. Long Beach had to at least be a few hundred miles away from La Push. There was no way I'd be able to walk back. I couldn't even begin to tell which direction it was in! But…there was bound to be a town here, and where there is a town there is a phone. The first thing on my list to do was get clothes. There was no way I could walk around naked.

Glancing at the group one last time, I made sure no one was looking my way and would see me. Then I dashed through the grass and towards the buildings I could see in the distance. They were bound to be little tourist shops, because all the people on the beach were obviously not from around here. Where there were shops, there was bound to be clothes. The problem was getting into those shops with all those people around. For a moment I stopped and figured that I wouldn't be able to actually get into a shop and 'borrow' some clothes. The next best thing would be to sneak into a hotel or cabin and take someone else's clothes, where they would probably have a phone. A cabin would be easier to sneak into, so that was where I was headed. Along the beach there were all sorts of cabins, but I chose some that I could hide the best around. The group of cabins I chose was surrounded by tall grass that came up close to the cabins, and would keep me covered.

With slow movements I approached one of the cabins that had kids running in and out of the room. These cabins were small and looked like they would have two bedrooms maybe three, a little kitchenette, and a living room. The outside of the cabin was painted a dark mocha, which meant I couldn't travel close to them or I would stand out. So I did the only thing I figured I could, I hunkered down in the grass and waited for someone to leave their cabins. After watching the kids I realized that the doors slammed shut and locked on their own, which meant that when someone left their cabin, I could run in behind them and sneak in. Today was the day that my patience was tested, because for a few hours I sat there and no one had entered or left their cabins. There must have been some entertaining stuff around here for no one to be coming back to their rooms. Things were starting to grow hopeless, and I was ready to find different cabins, when a family started to leave their cabins.

"Come on June, Amber, aren't you ready to go horseback riding?" A mother asked enthusiastically, holding open the cabin door. Two twins ran out of the cabin, their little pigtails bouncing around them. These girls had the brightest blonde hair and the deepest brown eyes. They were adorable and looked to be around Claire's age. They looked like they were the spitting image of their mom, because a man was with the mother; and he had ocean blue eyes and chocolate brown hair. While he stood next to the woman, he had a look of pure adoration on his face as he looked down at her. It made my mind drift to Jacob, and made my chest tighten into a painful knot. I watched as they shared a brief kiss before they stepped away from the door and followed after their girls. With lightening speed, I ran out of the grass and towards the quickly shutting door. Gravel from the walkway dug into the pad of my paws, and I could feel the blood leak out, but I had to ignore it. The muscles in my legs bunched up as I leapt from through the air and towards the closing door. Without the extra strength of being a protector I wouldn't have made it, but by a miracle I had. The door slammed shut on my butt and made me tumble into the room.

I skid across the smooth linoleum floor, my paws smearing blood everywhere. I ignored it though and quietly phased. There I stood, stark naked into the middle of someone's cabin and I didn't even know if there were more people in here. My hands were now bloody, but I ignored it. Bent at the waist, I crept through the little cabin and looked to see if anyone else was there. The layout of the place was the same as I had thought earlier. There were indeed two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a little living room. I checked everywhere and there was no one else here. So I went into the room with the larger suitcases and figured it was the adults' room. I grabbed the suitcase that weighed the most and threw it on the bed. A women's suitcase always held more than a man's, so it was bound to be heavier. I'd assumed right because when I opened the bag there at least ten different outfits air compressed into the suitcase. Everything in the suitcase looked rather nice, which I didn't want to take, until I came upon a sweatshirt and sweats. Those were the only garments of clothing I would take. The mother who owned these were bound to figure that she had either lost them or left them behind, so she wouldn't notice if they were stolen. Once fully clothed I began my next search, finding a phone.

I exited out of the bedroom and made my way to the kitchen. There wasn't a phone in sight, but there were a bunch of dirty dishes. My stomach growled in hunger, so I opened the fridge and looked around. All they had were different beverages like: milk, beer, juice, and tea. There didn't look to be any food in there. Next I opened the freezer and I was greeted with the sight of a large pile of candy bars. I grabbed a Kit-Kat and a Snickers before closing the door and continuing my search for a phone. The living room didn't have one either, and I was ready to give up then, when I looked at the window seat next to the couch. There, sitting in the window, was a cell phone charging. Tears pricked at my eyes I was so happy. I dashed over to the phone and opened up. My fingers flew over the keys as I dialed one of the only two La Push numbers I knew. It just kept ringing and ringing, and I knew the machine was going to pick up soon. That was until the sweetest sound filled my ears.

"Hewo?" A sweet little voice asked. Tears were soon trickling down my face I was so happy. It was hard to believe that I could be so happy when I knew I hadn't been gone long.

"Hey Claire Bear, it's Athena. Are you at Emily's house?" I asked her, talking to her like the little girl she was. I had to sit down on the couch because the strength I had to stand was gone.

"Yeah I'm at Emily's. Quil has been looking for you. He said that the bad men took you, but that's you were gonna be okay," She told me, her voice soft and gentle. I couldn't help but chuckle at the child-like way she said that Quil had been looking for me. She was just too adorable for her own good.

"The bad men did take me, but don't worry. I'm alright now. Is there anyone there with you?" I asked her, hoping that a pack member would be there or Emily. I needed someone who would be able to find me, and get me back home…back to Jacob and Billy.

"Yesum, Aunt Emily is here. She's making lots and lots of food!" Claire exclaimed, getting excited with the large amount of food. The little girl was always fascinated when there was a lot of anything, like all the sand on the beach, or how large the ocean was.

"Aunt Leah is here to…but she's not in a good mood…"

"Well can you put Leah or Emily on the phone? Tell them it's really important and that I need to talk to them," I told her, hoping both Leah and Emily wouldn't ignore her and come get the phone.

"Okay!" With that I heard her put the phone down and run off. With my sensitive hearing I was able to pick up the sound of her pitter pattering feet running down the wooden the hall. I could imagine her hair bouncing around her, and the adorable little dress she must have been wearing. Claire was always wearing the most adorable little girl's clothes. I couldn't wait to see her, to see everyone!

"Hello?"

"Leah!" And with that the tears were streaming down my face, and my body became racked with sobs. This was it; I was going to be able to go home.


	10. Markings

**Hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. Review and let me know! Thank you shaybay55, kiki, and whoever was anonymous for your reviews on the last chapter!**

I sat on the beach with my knees drawn to my chest, and my gaze trained on the ocean. After I had talked to Leah, I quickly got out of the cabin, for fear of being caught, and ran back to the beach. For about an hour I wandered up and down the beach before I planted myself in the sand – to my current position. My mind wondered back to the conversation with Leah and how worried she had sounded. Since I had known Leah, which wasn't very long, she had never worried about anything. Our conversation wasn't long, but it was long enough to put me at ease. She was going to phase to let the pack know where I was, and then they would be on their way down here. She told me to be careful though, because they hadn't found the Hunter that had taken me. She did mention the abandoned truck, but they couldn't track anyone. So here I was, sitting on the beach filled with both happiness and fear. My happiness came from me being found, that the pack was on their way to get me. The fear came from not knowing if the Hunter was going to find me, or if I was going to return home to find that Jacob wasn't going to be there waiting. The image of Jacob lying in the sand, surrounded by his own blood, was constant in my mind. All I could think about was if someone had found him, if some had helped him. My chest tightened at the thought. To me there was no point in going back to La Push if he wasn't there.

**Please don't' let it be so. Please let it be that someone found him already**, I prayed silently

Screaming farther down the beach made me tear my gaze away from the ocean. Down the beach there was a large man, with tousled looking hair and no shirt. The way he was built and what he was wearing reminded me a lot of the pack, and how they always looked. On each arm there was a kid hanging there, and on each leg there were also kids. The man was swinging the kids on his arms as he walked, and that was where the screaming was coming from. Even from this distance I could see the smiles on their faces and their warm laughter. It reminded me a lot of how Quil would play with Claire. Claire would climb all over him like the kids were doing, and having the time of her life. Then Quil would have this look in his eyes, as if he was the happiest man in the world, and he would never stop or complain until Claire decided she was done. My heart swelled with the thought of how much he cared about her. My mind began to wonder to all the wonderful moments the pack had, and how caring everyone could be. There was Sam who did every little thing that Emily asked. Embry, who liked to joke around and put everyone in a good mood. Collin and Brady, the inseparable duo. Seth, the neutral guy in an argument, who also cheered up the person who was hurt. Then there was Leah, who became my best friend by some twist of fate – our personalities nothing alike. Then there was my sweet, one of a kind Jacob. He always had time to listen to me, even when the conversation wasn't important, and was there for me in the night. He also gave me Billy, who had become a Father figure for me, and treated me as if I had always been one of his daughters. It filled me with such pride to be a part of it all.

_"What are you thinking about?" _I nearly jumped to my feet at the sound of the deep voice that spoke next to me. Spinning around I saw that next to me sat an eagle, his gaze not looking at me but at the ocean. I hadn't even heard him land next to me, he was either a silent flyer or I was really deep in my thoughts of the pack. I couldn't tell if he was actually talking to me, or if there was some creature around he was talking to.

"Are you talking to me?" I questioned, trying not to sound stupid, but failing. For a moment he didn't say anything and just glanced at me. In that glance though I could tell he was letting me know that it had been a stupid question. A blush heated my cheeks, and I began to fiddle with my fingers.

_"You really are a young kit. Hopefully that wisdom of yours kicks in and starts letting you know when someone is talking to you. For a fox, you sure are senseless, kit," _He spoke, his voice drowning me and making me pay full attention. That fact that he had basically called me stupid made me blush even darker and look down. My arms returned to their position of being wrapped around my legs and returned my gaze towards the ocean. As I thought about it I realized that he had mentioned my wisdom.

"How do you know about my wisdom? My kind have not traveled to this area," I asked, curious as how he could possibly know about my ability. This eagle may have looked wise, but he couldn't have possibly been _that_ wise.

_"There is hardly anyone who doesn't know of your kind. You are one of the Protectors, who isn't just a guardian to your tribe, but to all of those around you. We know who to trust and who not to trust, and you, young kit, are someone to trust." _The way he spoke to me reminded me a lot of my Grandfather. The more similarities I saw between the two, the more I wished that the eagle would just keep talking. My Grandfather had a way with all the foxes; he always found some way to make a fox seem stupid when the wisdom goes to their head. He was a man who kept us in line and not high off of the power we possess from our wisdom.

"I get the feeling you know more than you are letting on," I pressed, sensing that there was a purpose for him being here. Not many animals would go out of their way to talk to me, and that was something I had learned from my wisdom.

_"So you _are_ smart once in awhile. Yes, there is a reason I am here. I was sent by the trees and grass to give you a message." _The way he spoke now seemed darker, more serious. He had my full attention, everything around us disappearing. My senses were tuned into the grass behind us that was swaying, even though there was no wind to blow it. It was as if the grass was giving the message to the eagle now, reminding him what to say.

"What is it?" I questioned, nervous as to what the message would be. The trees and grass were the wisest beings on the planet. No one could surpass them in wisdom because they had been here since the very beginning of this world. They had witnessed everything.

_"When the time comes, the earth shall call to you, and you must do as it says. It will be then that the trees will guide you, and lead you to our saving," _The eagle said, his intense gaze now staring at me straight on. Nothing around us distracted us, or lessened the powerful force of the situation.

"I cannot speak to the trees, though. How will I know when they are talking to me if I cannot understand them?" Once again the grass behind us began to sway, speaking to the eagle, and providing me with the answers that I sought.

_"By bearing the mark that you are one of their children." _With that he leapt from his spot next to me and took towards the sky, barely flying over a foot off the ground. Instinct drove me as I jumped to my feet and ran after him. Something was pushing me to follow him, and for once it wasn't my wisdom. Sand moved under my feet as I pushed myself faster and faster, ignoring the few people that I passed. Nothing was going to stop me, not even the incessant honking behind me. My nose burned from the sea air, but I didn't stop, not even when my legs burned.

"Hey!" Someone shouted, honking at me once more. For a split second I looked at the vehicle that was traveling next to me, not picking up on the familiar truck or driver. All that mattered was that I kept running, and didn't lose the eagle. A power within me just kept pushing me. "Athena stop!" Looking over again, I saw that it was Sam driving the truck, and that Embry was looking at me also. More than anything in the world I wanted to stop, to embrace them all and leave the past horrors behind…but I couldn't. The eagle didn't stop, or slow down, he just kept flying.

"Where are you taking me?" I shouted, continuing to push myself after him. Next to me I could sense confusion and frustration. I knew that Sam wanted me to stop, but I couldn't, not until I had the answers.

_"To bear the mark that you are meant to have!" _Around me the eagle's voice echoed with his cry, as he started to make himself fly even faster. We were at a part of the beach where there was no civilization, and there were no people. It was barren and untouched by man.

"That tells me nothing," I whispered to myself. Up ahead of us there was a group of rocks surrounded by tall grass, and baby furs. The rocks looked rough, but I ran up them anyway, and stopped at the tallest point. I stood there as the eagle circled around the rocks, starting at the base and working his way up to above my head. He continued to do that over and over again, occasionally grabbing at my hair and twisting it around me. My eyes were focused on him, the grass, and the little trees around me. It came to my attention when the truck had shut off because I could now hear the waves of the ocean.

"Athena-!"

"Shhh," I hushed softly, not bothering to see who was talking to me. I continued to stand in the same spot and watch the eagle. "We're here! Now why have you brought me here?!"

_"I am not the one who has brought you here. The land you walk on, the air you breath, they are the ones that have brought you here!" _He cried out, his voice booming in the peaceful silence around us.

"Then why have they brought me here?!" I exclaimed, my insides burning with the want of knowing the answer. The eagle circled around me a couple of more times, his gaze never waning from mine.

_"Like I told you before, you are to bear the mark that you are a child to the land! You are indeed a young kit, and will have much to learn. Many before you have had this mark, and it is now your turn!" _At the end of his sentence, the surrounding grass began to sway in an almost violent manner, while the trees began to shake their branches. The cry of the ocean grew in my ears, and the wind would blow every so often. The sounds began to fade and slowly turned to whispers. A pressure began to form between my brows as I tried to separate the sounds, but it became too overwhelming and soon the voices were flooding me. As the voices grew so did the pain I felt in my head, and as a result I began to pull on my hair; as if it could take the pain away. The pain was unbearable and I could feel myself sink to my knees, as if a force was pulling me down. Then it stopped. There were no more voices, no more pain, there was nothing. Looking myself over, I could see nothing different, and grew confused. Was I now bearing the child's marking or not? Then I noticed something just by an accidental glance. There around my ankle was a vine with leafs. Part of the vine went on the top of my feet with a few more leaves. It was a simple design but it was there. It was then that I noticed the throbbing in my ankle from the new marking, and then I felt another pain only it was around my left hand. Looking to my hand I saw that the same design wrapped around my wrist and went on top of my hand. There was a slight throbbing surrounding the area where the new tattoos were.

"This is the marking?! To permanently mark my skin!" I shouted, furious at the eagle that now lightly flew around me. My insides burned with what I had just gone through, and now I had a tattoo that would never come off. It was cute, but that's beside the point.

"Why couldn't I wear a talisman or something?!"

_"You now bear the colors of the forest and it's marking! And all those around shall know that you have been blessed, your brown hair and green eyes shall show that!" _The eagle exclaimed, his voice filled with pride at what had happened. We didn't have mutual feelings on the matter.

"So you put ink on my skin?! Why couldn't we come to an agreement on something? There were a million things you could have done, but this? I just want clear skin, so change it back…please!" I told him, trying to sound stern, but it come out more uncertain than anything.

_"This is the way that the forest has decided for you to bear their mark, so stop complaining! Instead be proud for it is a great honor!" _With that the eagle circled me one more time, before disappearing down the beach. He didn't even bother to say goodbye, or tell me his name.

"Yeah, well I don't want their stupid mark." My sentence had started off with me yelling at him, but faded into a whisper. With a huff I lightly touched my now colored skin and just stared at it. If I was to go ever go back to my tribe I would be a disgrace for having these tattoos. In my tribe men were the only ones to get tattoos because it showed there rank in the tribe. My mother was a firm believer in following the way of our tribe. Would my mother be disappointed in me?

"Athena?" A soft voice entered my attention. My eyes widened at the voice, and I spun around. There, before me, was almost the entire pack. They all wore a surprised or nervous expression, but I didn't look at them long. Standing towards the front of the group, was the one person I wanted to see most. Jacob stood there, his gaze being the only one filled with worry, and his left arm wrapped in white gauzes. Tears pricked at my eyes as I looked at him, my chest tightening the tightest it had ever before.

"Jacob?" I asked, afraid he wasn't real, that he was just my imagination.

"Athena?" He responded, with that I dashed from the rocks and towards him. The fact that the rocks cut at my feet didn't cross my mind, all that mattered was that I got closer to Jacob. He started to run towards me as well, and before I even stepped off the rocks I jumped through the air and into his arms. My arms wrapped around his neck in a death grip, while his arms held me tightly. He spun us around, as he lightly chuckled into my hair. I buried my face into his neck, and took in his familiar scent. He was really here, he was alive and that was all that mattered. His grip on me tightened and I ignored my sore body's cries of protest. Then before I could control myself I was sobbing into his neck, as if I was the most miserable being on this earth. It made me feel selfish, but at the moment I couldn't really care. My Jacob was back, he was okay. "Athena, shhh, it's okay. I'm here now, nothing is going to hurt you," He whispered to me, sending chills down my spine.

"Don't leave me…please don't ever leave me," I hiccupped into his neck, the sobs taking over my body. All the over whelming emotions from before finally hit me, and I couldn't control them. Jacob just held me and whispered sweet reassuring words to me, not caring about the people around us. It was just me and him here, at this moment, and that was all that mattered.

"I'm never going to leave you…I promise," He spoke to me softly, lightly running his fingers through me hair. It filled me with such joy to be here, and in his arms. The haunting image of him being hurt no longer haunted me because he was here, and I knew he was safe.

Slowly I pulled back from him, and smiled down at him softly. The sun shined on his face, making his tan skin glow, and emphasizing the bright smile on his face. For a few moments I glanced from his eyes to his lips, unconsciously licking my lips, before I slowly leaned towards him. There was hardly in space between us, his breath caressed my face, and all I could do was smile at him. Jacob smiled at me as well, before he closed the space between us and kissed. For a moment the kiss was sweet and innocent, playful because of the whistles coming from behind us; but then it started to grow more passionate with our need to show what we felt for one another. Jacob lightly licked my lips and without a second thought I parted my lips, letting him in. It was like nothing I experienced before as he explored the inside of my mouth. Without my knowing I tangled my fingers in his hair, trying to bring him closer. The bolder side of me took over and soon I was the dominate one in this passionate kiss we were having. As I leaned forward more, he would lean back. I couldn't help but smirk into our kiss when Jacob finally fell to his butt in the sand, with me sitting on his lap.

"My eyes! They burn!" Embry cried dramatically, from behind us. I could hear the guys laughing at him silently.

"Get a room!" Quil yelled at us, making me pull away from Jacob. A blush instantly appeared on my face, my shy side quickly kicking back in. I buried my face into Jacob's chest, but couldn't help but smile. The warmth from Jacob, and the carefree attitude of the pack, made me realize how much I missed them; how much I didn't want to ever be away from them again.

"Alright you two, shut up! Jacob, Athena, get off the ground and let's go home," Sam ordered, not using the alpha voice but still demanding. He probably just wanted to get back to Emily. With great ease, Jacob lifted us off the ground and set me on my feet. The smile on his face stretched from ear to ear, and I couldn't help but to give him that same smile back. His warm hand made its way into mine, and I couldn't help but tighten my hand around his. When he went to follow the rest of the pack, I did too, but I didn't get very far. The throbbing in my ankle decided to intensify at that moment, and with a cry of pain my leg gave out from underneath me. If it wasn't for Jacob, I would have tumbled into the sand.

"Whoa, easy there. Are you okay?" Jacob asked, his gentle hands lifting me up gently by my waist. I put my hand on his shoulder while I put my weight on my other foot, although Jacob was practically holding me in the air.

"It's my ankle. It hurts," I couldn't help but whine. The pain was starting to grow, but I was trying not to show it. I didn't want to worry anyone. They'd been looking for me according to Claire; they didn't need to deal with a little pain in my ankle.

"Well we better make sure you stay off of that, shouldn't we?" Jacob said, a smirk appearing on his face. Before I got the time to question him, he swept me off my feet and into his arms. As I stared at Jacob in surprise, he started to smile again before laughing. Now I was confused. "You should see the expression on your face! It's priceless! Especially with that blush!" My arms crossed over my chest, as I looked away from him and scowled. If he wanted to embarrass me, I was going to ignore him.

"I don't want to talk to you," I mumbled to myself, refusing to look at him. By being shy, I would have no problem not talking; it was easy to be quiet. Now he would have to deal with that.

"Come on. Please don't be like that! I'm sorry!" Jacob whined, trying to turn me in his arms to look at him. I just kept my gaze trained on the pack, who was now piling in Sam's rather small truck, at lease it was small compared to all the guys. "Athena, please don't do this…I just got you back."

At the moment Jacob used that tone of voice, I spun my gaze to him. He sounded so hurt by me ignoring him, and that's when I realized how fragile Jacob really was right now. This was showing me just how powerful imprinting was. I assumed the longer I was with Jacob, the more I would realize the intensity of imprinting. "Jacob…how long was I gone?"

"Since that leech and Hunter took you you'd been gone for about 195 hours and 32 minutes, or about eight days," he told me, now taking his gaze away from mine. It that moment, I felt something I thought I would never feel for another being, and that was…love. He cared about me, took care of me, worried about me, and I knew I loved him for that. Why did my love appear now? Why now out of all the time I had spent with him? And why…why was I his imprint?

_Because he protected you, that's why you love him… _My wisdom spoke to me. I tried to wrap my mind around what just found out, but I just couldn't do it. I just couldn't understand.

**Why…does he want me though? What makes me so special compared to the last girl he loved? **I thought, trying to figure out something that seemed it should be so simple. Nothing seemed to make sense though.

_The last girl didn't need protecting…and you do… _For all the stuff that had happened in my life, it was no surprise that a part of me wanted protecting, whether I acknowledged that part or not. Sitting up, I wrapped my arms around Jacob's neck and pulled him close. I burrowed my face into his neck and took in his scent, which smelt of the forest and the salty air.

"I never want to be away from you, Jacob…never again," I whispered, the tightening of his arms around me, let me know that he heard me. Even if he heard me, though, I don't think he would truly understand the true meaning of my words, and how much I wanted him to understand them. Someday I would make him know what those words really meant, and how much he meant to me. After all my horrors were taken care of, I would tell him how much I cared.


	11. Old Friends

**A big thanks to my Beta for taking the time to edit this!**

I sat at Emily's kitchen table, practically stuffing my face with food. When Jacob had told me how long I had been gone I realized that during that time I was passed out for almost all of it; and that I hadn't eaten anything for that time. It's amazing that I was even still alive without having food or water for that long. So I was making up for that lost food with Emily's cooking. Every so often Jacob or Emily would stop me from eating so much, saying that I had to get use to eating food again and let myself adjust. It was frustrating, but I listened to them.

"Alright, Athena we need to know what happened. Where did the Hunter and the leech go?" Sam asked, his large form sitting at the head of the table. When my eyes connected with his, I shrunk back because the memories of what had happened surfaced. They flittered across my mind, but the most prominent one was the pain I constantly felt because I didn't know what had happened to Jacob. Those feelings, and the memory of Jacob hurt on the beach, would forever haunt me. The memories stopped though when Emily slammed a tray full of drinks on the table, their contents spraying everywhere. Everyone looked at her startled and surprised, for there was a look of fury I had never seen on her face before. All I had ever know of Emily was sweet and kind…this was the exact opposite.

"She just got back Sam! Leave the girl alone!" Emily yelled at Sam, her hands shaking with the anger she must have been feeling. I think Sam was more surprised than any of us at her behavior. All Sam ever saw was his sweet Emily, he knew there was a strong woman within her though. As Sam and Emily stared at each other, having a silent conversation, Ace hopped up in my lap. The rabbit was plumper now and had silky soft fur. His permanent residence at Emily's was spoiling him. I missed not seeing him every day, but he loved it at Emily's. Claire had seen him and fell in love. The same happened to Ace and the two were attached like owner and pet. He has been wanting to move to Claire's, and from what I heard he would be soon

"But, Emily, we need to know-" Sam tried to say, using a calm voice. I don't think Sam had ever raised his voice to Emily.

"No! That is too personal a question to ask her so soon! When she is ready she will tell you. All you need to know is that the Hunter and the vampire are gone. Now leave her alone, and let her recover," Emily ordered, her heated gaze still trained on Sam. He looked like he was going to protest, but he stopped himself. Once she knew he had backed off, she turned to me and handed me a glass of water.

"Thank you," I said, but not for the glass of water. The guys didn't know it, but Emily knew I was thanking her for standing up to me. She gave me a warm smile, before disappearing back into the kitchen to refill the drinks that had been spilt. Sam was quick to follow, and try to make amends.

"Alright, so we don't really need to know what happened. We just need to know how to stop these guys," Quil stated, looking at everyone around the room. No one said anything, so I stepped up.

"We need to go straight to the source," I told them, taking a small sip of my water. Jacob made me stand up, and then he took my spot and pulled me into his lap. When his arms wrapped around me, butterflies fluttered in my stomach. This was all new to me, and it was going to take awhile for me to get use to.

"What do you mean?" Paul asked from his spot next to me. I took a moment to glance at everyone around the room, just too see if they were fully comprehending how serious this situation was.

"We need to go straight to the Volturi. They're the problem, so we need to deal with it," I said, not meeting anyone's gaze and just looking at the table. With the way Jacob tensed, I could tell no one was going to like this idea. There was no other choice though. I'd learned about the Volturi and how they worked through a _friend_. This was going to be necessary though, because not only were we in danger, but all other tribes everywhere were as well.

"You're crazy," Paul finally spoke up, instantly everyone started to tell me the same thing as him. They were all shaking their heads, and talking at once. Embry was saying it was as crazy as trying to get Paul to phase while giving him a hug, and how life threatening it was. Then Quil went on about how it was like trying to come between Sam and Emily, that just didn't happen, and it was crazy to think about. Leah was silent next to Seth, but Seth was just shaking his head at me.

"How would that help?" Jacob asked, speaking up for the first time in awhile. I knew he didn't want to go against my idea, but I was sure he had his doubts.

"It would ensure the safety of all tribes. We may be able to survive, but other tribes won't. I'm not going to sit by and watch them all be killed," I voiced, my tone soft. This is what we were going to have to do, whether they liked it or not. If I had to I would find other's to help me. It may not have seemed like it, but I was a girl who had a lot of connections and knew a lot of people. Everyone I knew would help me if I asked them. I was giving these boys, my family, the opportunity to be a part of it.

"We can't just go to the Volturi; it's in our blood to kill vampires. With that many…something would be bound to go wrong," Quil spoke up, throwing his opinion out there. I glanced at him, and then everyone else around the table. From the look in their eyes they all shared the same feelings. I didn't have to look at Jacob to know that he agreed. With a sigh, I stood up, it broke my heart slightly that I knew that they weren't going to be there with me. These people, who had become my friends and family, were my rock now. With them by my side I felt like nothing could go wrong. The doubt they had for my plan though, let me know they couldn't do this.

"We don't turn into animals just to kill. We become animals to protect our land and our people. That's why we are called Guardians or Protectors. If we were created just to kill…then we are no better than a human killing in cold blood. I know I'm not a murderer, and I know it doesn't bring me pleasure to kill vampires. Because of your hate for vampires, I know they hurt you or at least one of you…but I've met them, and they have become my friends. They've been there for me throughout my life, and I know they are going to help me with this. If you'll excuse me please, I have some phone calls I need to make." With that I didn't meet anyone's gaze and left the room. I walked into the kitchen, Sam and Emily's conversation halting, and I grabbed their portable phone. Next to the phone was a pad of papers and some pens, so I grabbed those too. The whole house seemed to fall into silence as I walked out the front door and sat on the steps. My sensitive hearing didn't pick up anyone talking, and I figured they were all off in their own little worlds, and just thinking.

The phone felt heavy in my hands, and the number I dialed seemed never ending. It'd been a long time since I dialed this specific number. My hands started to shake, and my heart started beating in my chest like a birds wings from being nervous. Pretty soon I was doodling on my paper in an attempt to distract myself, every time I heard the ringing in my ear I would grow more and more anxious. That nervousness crumbled away when a sweet voice answered.

"_Hello, this is Laura!" _Laura cheered, her light and airy voice drifting through the phone like music. It made me smile and warm up inside to be talking to her.

"Hey, Laura, it's me, Athena," I told her, knowing she wouldn't have forgotten me. The girl had been born with a photographic memory, and that carried on over to when she was turned into a vampire. At least that is what she told me, she liked to tell everyone else though it was her power.

"_Athena, Athena, hmmm…this wouldn't be the Athena who hasn't called me in oh I don't know…maybe over a year!" _She shouted at me, her voice rising just the slightest. I couldn't help but laugh shyly. I quieted down though when I heard shouting in the background, and Laura growling. From the way Laura was snarling I could tell that it had to be Nicholas and Joe. The two were twin brothers, and now twin vampires. They were the sweetest guys you would ever meet. When you became a part of this family they would protect you till the very end, and they were great gentlemen – although they were a couple of clowns.

"Yes, this is the Athena who has neglected talking to her friends," I said, knowing that the whole family had to be listening in on the conversation now. When I'd first started talking to them it was strange when different members of the family would start talking on the phone, but I'd gotten use to it. It made things entertaining and there was never an awkward silence.

"_Excuse me, __**friends**__? Oh no girl we are more than friends! The moment you wondered onto our land you became a part of our family. I'll not be having this 'friend' stuff," _Jenifer spoke up; she was the mother figure of the group. There was murmuring in the background, and I knew everyone was agreeing with her.

"Thanks guys that means a lot. I wish this call was to catch up and reminisce on past memories, but it isn't…I need help," I told them, I wasn't even in their presence and I could feel them shift, becoming very serious. That's another thing I loved about this family, when something was important they were instantly ready to listen and knew when to stop joking around. It never really mattered to them how big or little the importance was, they were always willing to help.

"_What is it, Athena?" _Joe asked, all joking and fun gone. His deep gravelly voice brought me comfort. Joe reminded me a lot of my older brother. Sometime it hurt to have reminders of my brother, but at other times it was a relief.

"You know how I'm a Protector, right? Well there are other tribes out there like mine. The thing is, the Volturi have come to see us as a threat. I don't know why, or what could have really caused it, but they have been sending Hunters to kill us. I'd recently just been kidnapped. You know our legends; well apparently they do too, because they were after my pelt. They are slowly going to kill all the tribe Protectors. I haven't been able to see the other tribes, so they don't know what's happening. But…I need help. I can't save everyone alone," I explained to them, my voice breaking towards the end. I really did feel alone when it came to trying to save all these tribe's Protectors. With them not knowing what was going on they had no way to prepare themselves, and were basically sitting ducks.

"_Athena, what do you __**want **__us to do?" _David's strong voice spoke up, speaking for the first time. David was the leader of the group, and mate to Jenifer. To everyone he always came off as intimidating because of his large muscular build, his facial expressions, and his voice. Just like the rest of his family he was really sweet and **really **protective.

"Is there anyway, or anyone you know, who could go to the Volturi and create some kind of treaty. There has to be some way we can create peace with both your kind and mine." It was at that moment that Leah walked out the front door and sat next to me. From the look on her face I could tell she was trying to figure out what I was talking about, and who exactly I was talking to. I just gave her a small smile, and scooted closer to her. She wrapped an arm gently around me, and lightly rubbed my arm. I needed someone to be close to right now.

"_I can do that. It'll take a large group of vampires to sway them into a treaty, but I can manage that. I'm afraid of the extent of the treaty, or what they'll want in exchange of the treaty," _David's tone seemed to grow dark, and now I was worried. I knew it this wasn't going to be easy, but to hear it from someone else made it so much worse.

"David…what do you mean?"

"_Well you said that they kidnapped you, and that they must have known your legends. I fear that they might want you in exchange for the treaty," _David reluctantly spoke. As soon as the words were out of his mouth there was a round of 'WHATS' from his end of the phone. Leah even roared and jumped to her feet. The deep roar the ripped through her chest seemed to make the whole house quake, and she quickly put some distance between us.

"Please do what you have to, David. I'll call you guys back soon, I gotta go," I spoke quickly, my eyes wide as I watched Leah. I'd never seen her **this** furious before, not even when Sam and Emily were involved.

"_I suggest that you get around to the other tribes and let them know what is going on. Good bye, Athena, and good luck." _With that I clicked the phone off and stood up. Leah was pacing back and forth in the driveway, violently kicking rocks in random directions. The rest of the occupants in the house were quick to appear outside and see what was going on. We all watched as Leah mumbled and growled to herself before us.

"What's wrong with her?" Jacob asked, whispering in my ear. It made me jump a little, both at how close he was and in surprise. I was so focused on Leah that I hadn't noticed him.

"She heard something she didn't like," I told him, not telling him everything but at the same point I wasn't lying to him either. I couldn't even begin to imagine how he would react if he knew what Leah did.

"Something I didn't like?! Are you kidding me! Did you not hear what he said? Athena, you have to tell-"

"Leah, shut up," I ordered in a dark tone, I sent a heated glare at her to let her know how serious I was. Our eyes connected and for a few moments, we shared a silent conversation. Leah's eyes stayed lit with anger, but she kept her mouth shut; even when the boys behind us were questioning us. There was a glint in her eye though, so I knew we would be talking later, if not tonight. After I was assured she wouldn't say anything, I turned back to the boys. They all wore different expressions on their faces, but I couldn't read Jacob's because I refused to look at him. I didn't know the reaction I was going to get from him, so I did my best not to meet his eyes. "I've called up some friends of mine; they've taken care of me before. They are going to help me with the Volturi, but they aren't sure how things are going to turn out…I have to go see other tribes. I need to know who has survived, and who hasn't…It's time I fulfilled my duties as the fox protector. You probably don't understand exactly what that means, but it's important. Billy can explain the importance of it to you."

"Why can't you?" Quil asked, looking at me with a concerned and confused look. The rest of the boys had the same look on their faces, and it broke my heart to think what I was going to tell them.

"I have to leave…and I don't know if I'm coming back," I whispered, looking down at my feet. My hands clenched into fists, and I could feel my nails bite into my skin. It was then that my heart really broke and the tears started to fall.

"What do you mean you're leaving? We just found! We just got you back," Embry said, his voice growing soft at the end of his sentence. When I looked up at the boys they all had saddened expressions, even Paul. It made me feel loved, made me feel wanted, to know that they cared so much. My heart completely turned to dust when I saw the unshed tears in Jacob's eyes.

"The other tribes need to be ready for what might come. They need me."

"Why? Why does it have to be you?" Jacob asked, his voice cracking. Just by looking at him you could tell he was holding in his tears with all his might. His hands reached out towards me, as if by that simple action alone I wouldn't have to leave. The distance between us seemed too great and I ran into his arms. Sobs racked my body and felt like they were tearing my chest apart, I hated myself. This was hurting Jacob so much, and it was my entire fault. I was the one who was doing harm to the most kind, and wonderful person I have ever known.

"It has to be her, because she is both a fox and she's a child of the land. The destiny of a fox is set before they are even born. And the destiny of being a child, who bears the mark as she does, is the hardest of them all. It is an honor to meet such a person. Athena, you are stronger than you think. The forest, the land you walk on, the air you breathe, they wouldn't have marked you if they didn't think that you couldn't save their people. And that is what you will do. This painful parting you are having to make, might be the piece to making you that much stronger in what you must do," Billy spoke, his voice speaking with the inner wisdom he possessed. Unburying my face from Jacob, I stared at Billy. For a minute I wondered where he had come from, but my thoughts drifted to how someone could make me feel like he did. He always knew what to say, and how to cheer me up even the slightest bit.

"Thank you, Billy," I told him, my voice soft. I walked away from Jacob and to Billy. Billy just stared up at me with a soft smile, and lightly held my hand. That gentle touch wasn't enough though, and I carefully wrapped my arms around his neck. Tears once more pricked at my eyes, but I wouldn't let them fall.

"How soon do you have to leave?" Sam's commanding voice asked, slowly I stood up from Billy and looked at Sam.

"I should leave as soon as possible," The group all looked at their feet, trying to hide their expressions, "but I think it would be alright if I stayed a week. It wouldn't be good if I left without a proper goodbye." Every large boy on the porch looked at me with smiles. They all started to idly talk to each other once more, and I couldn't help but smile. Jacob stilled seemed somewhat sad, but joined the conversation Quil and Embry were having. My attention turned away from him and to Leah, when she placed her hand on my shoulder. The look on her face was serious, but gentle at the same time.

"When the time comes, Athena, I **will **be going with you. I'll not let you go to all these tribes alone," she stated, her voice leaving me no room to question her.

To the surprise of Leah, and everyone else, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close. "I wouldn't have it any other way, my friend," I whispered, and when her arms wrapped around me as well, I knew that she cherishes the friendship we formed just as much as I did. No matter what happens in the future, this was my family, and nothing could change how much I loved them all.

**Come on guys, I could use some more reviews. They help motivate me to write, so please review! Thank you kiki, Piper, and Nic for your reviews. It's greatly appreciated.**


	12. Night Under the Stars

**Thank you Piper and XxBabyEmo94xX for your reviews. Kimmiecullen, thank you for your compliment! It meant a lot! Hope you enjoy the next chapter.**

That night Jacob and I sat out on his front yard. I leaned back against his chest, his arms wrapped around my waist, and his legs on either side of me. We both just sat there in silence and gazed at the sky. There wasn't a cloud in the sky so we were able to see the millions of stars and the ever bright moon. Most feared the night because of what their imaginations thought lurked about, and because of it they weren't able to witness the true beauty nature showed us. It was a magnificent sight to see, and it seemed all the more special just because it was Jacob by my side. Everything I did with him was special, and I would never forget a single second I spent with him. It was at this moment that I wanted to tell him how much I cared about him, how much I loved him…but I couldn't. I didn't want him to have to suffer the loss of love if something were to go wrong in the future. Plus I was worried that he may not have loved me back the way I really wanted him to. Yes, there was the whole imprinting thing, but had we been together long enough for him to have figured out if he loved me or not? He did say that he could be anything for me, such as a lover, a brother, or a friend. Those were all possibilities, and I was afraid of that.

"Athena, this week is going to be special. We're not going to have any sad moments. All we are going to do is spend time together, and enjoy ourselves. We shouldn't think about what might happen," Jacob told me, his thumb lightly drawing circles on my hip. He lightly nuzzled the side of my head, and kept his gaze on the stars.

"That'd…that'd be nice, Jacob," I said, my chest tightening with emotion. There were so many thoughts and an emotional turmoil going on within me that I couldn't tell what exactly I was feeling. Unconsciously I snuggled closer to Jacob and let his warmth wrap around me. It brought me so much comfort; I hadn't really realized it before.

"And when the time comes, I am going to go with you and Leah on this trip. There is no way I can let you just disappear again. You mean so much to me, and I don't want to be apart from you." Jacob had stopped rubbing circles on my hip and tightened his arms around me. If there was any space between us before it was gone now. I wasn't complaining though.

"I don't know about you, but doesn't this fall under the sad category? You said we weren't going to have any of those," I questioned him, knowing Jacob, though, there bound to be many sad moments this week. He could try and stop them, but they were going to happen no matter what. This was not something you could prevent, and I wished I could prevent it more than anything.

"Our week starts tomorrow, today doesn't count," He chuckled, his small laughter vibrating through me. It brought a smile to my face that could stay there for hours. As long as Jacob was around I would never stop smiling.

"I know you want to come, but Jacob, the pack needs you here. More than anything I would want you to come, but I can't be that selfish. The tribe needs you more than I do. The people you care about…the people **I've **come to care about will need you. We don't know what kind of dangers will be coming this way," I tried to explain to him; it was obviously inevitable though because I knew he wasn't going to like what I told him. From the corner of my eye I watched as the muscles in his arm flexed and felt his form grow a little stiff. **Well here we go…**

"What about Leah though? She's going with you. Why can't I?" He questioned, his tone soft but firm at the same time. He was a rather emotional guy.

"Leah is coming with me because she needs to get away from this, away from the pack. She's unhappy watching Sam and Emily together. Besides she's my-"

"Leah just needs to grow up and move on. Sam doesn't want her anymore and she needs to realize that." Before I could even get words out I tore myself from his arms. I quickly jumped to my feet and looked at him with the most heated glare I could muster up. Werewolves shake when they are angered and about to phase, like Paul, well I was doing the same thing at the moment. My muscles tightened up as I tried to stop my shaking but it was no use.

"Don't you ever, **ever**, talk about Leah like that again! I care about you a lot, Jacob, but I will not just sit by and let you bad mouth my best friend like that! You don't know the first thing about her and how she really feels!" As I continued to speak my voice grew louder. It got the point where I was pointing my finger at him, as if I was scolding some child. I couldn't really control myself at this point, I was in defense mode.

"Oh, please, I phase with the girl on almost a daily basis. She's rather open about how she feels and enjoys making Sam miserable! You're not like us though so you can't hear her thoughts." For some reason Jacob's last sentence stung me more than it should have. I don't know why it bothered me but it did. I was quick to counter Jacob though so he wouldn't see how his words affected me.

"You all need to get over how Leah acts and take a closer look at her. Everyone says and does things for a reason, you all just need to open your eyes and see why she does it. Really look at her. There is a gentle side to Leah that you all need to notice... None of you can understand the pain that she lives with." Just as the words left my mouth Jacob was on his feet and in my face. For the first time, I saw him shaking all over, and his fist clenched at his sides. Jacob's anger or aggression was never addressed towards me before…and it scared me now that it was.

"If anyone can relate to her it's me! I know what it's like to have someone rip your heart out and tear it apart as if it was nothing! I know how it feels when you're all alone afterwards and you think there is no one else out there! That pain that comes when you've finally realized what you have lost, the fear that comes with it and the ever-lasting tormenting sadness. And I know what it's like to fear love, and know that it will never be the same as before your heart was torn apart!" Jacob roared at me, making me take a few steps back. His chest heaved up and down with the deep breaths he took. The heated glare he had before seemed more ferocious now. Shocked couldn't even begin to describe how I felt. All I could do was stare at him, as the shock faded away and was replaced with hurt. So that's how he felt. The love he had before me could never be the same. I wasn't good enough to help him move on and heal. Maybe he really did only care about me because he imprinted on me. It broke my heart to think of such a thing, but his little speech just seemed to prove it. If he could he would take the girl before me that he loved. Tears pricked at my eyes, but I wouldn't let him see them. I refused to let him see how his words affected me. So I was being selfish and thinking about myself at the moment, but how couldn't I?

"Fine, maybe it's true. Maybe you really can relate to her better than anyone. If you're able to connect with Leah the way you say you can, tell me **why **she says the things she does?" My voice was challenging, and I was sure the wolf within him was bound to pick up on him. Alpha blood ran through Jacob's veins so I knew he wouldn't back down.

"It's because she can't stand the thought that Sam loves someone else more than her. That Emily was more to him than she was, and even after all the things that they went through together he still picked Emily. The thought haunts her and tears her apart inside, and because of it she makes everyone else miserable," Jacob stated, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. Staring into his eyes though, I knew otherwise.

"Is that how Leah feels…or how you feel Jacob?" I asked, my tone soft. My gaze never left his, and I was able to see the surprise and bewilderment take over his once angered face.

"What are you talking about? Of course I'm talking about Leah, what else-"

"Just like Leah you once loved someone – someone who obviously left you for another. And it tore you up so much inside that you could never love someone the same. It haunts you no matter what you've told anyone else, and you cover it up pretty good. Your speech just gave away how you truly felt, though. What you just said was about you, not Leah," I told him, my voice accusing. I hated to be doing this, but I knew he needed to let it out. Where it would leave us afterwards, I didn't know; but I had to help him. This was the only way he could truly help himself.

"It was not about me! Leah-"

"Leah has moved on! She thinks the thoughts she does because if other people are miserable they will worry about their own misery, and not notice how much pain and fear she has. Leah, is afraid that if she loves another, the same thing will happen to her, and Sam is a constant reminder. The thing is she has gone out with a few people. She hasn't let her fear or all the pain that she has felt stop her, she's facing her problems, and that is how you and she are different. She has moved on and **you haven't**." Jacob took a step back as if I had physically slapped him. His gaze would flicker to the ground before looking up at me, but he was quick to stare at the grass once more. You could practically hear his thoughts as if he was speaking them, and feel his emotions as if it was wrapped around you in a blanket. I could tell he was confused and trying to figure out how our conversation took this turn. All I could do was shake my head and walk away. Right now, I couldn't be around Jacob. I would have to wait till tomorrow to see him, when emotions weren't so strong.

"Where are you going?!" Jacob practically yelped, slowly I turned back to him with a light smile on my face. The tears couldn't be held back any longer and they now ran freely. Jacob was quick to move towards me, but I stepped away from him and shook my head.

"I…I can't be around you right now, Jacob. You hurt me, so I'm going to go to Leah's. See there she isn't going to tell me that I'm different, and point out that I don't fit in with my friends. She's going to be a true friend and not lie to me. She'll tell me that even though she's been hurt, that she cares about me more than the last person who hurt her. At this point I don't care if I'm selfish for wanting these things…And Jacob…if you never got over the girl who left you, you shouldn't have acted like you cared about me. That hurts-"

"Athena, what are you talking about I-" He stopped half way through his sentence, and his whole form became stiff. Finally he realized the words he said and what they meant. There was no dancing around it. "Oh god, Athena, I didn't mean what I said! I was just trying-"

"Just…stop, please. Nothing you can say right now will help. It's like I said before, people say and do things for a reason. I don't know what your reason is, but maybe you should figure it out before you come after me – if you come after me. Now I'm going to go to Leah's, if you need me I'll be there," I said, with that I looked at him one last time before walking away. Emotions within me were numbed as I walked in silence, and gazed at the forest around me. I was told the forest was dangerous, but any fear that I had for it was gone. The forest gave me their mark, and I knew they would keep me safe. I was on autopilot as I moved into the forest and ignored Jacob's gaze that was boring into my back.

Normally when you moved through the forest you would get scratched and cut from fallen debris, or have a problem finding a clear path. Not me, at least not any more. Bushes seemed to move, and lightly brushed against my legs. It was as if they were arms touching me to reassure me, and catch me if I fell. My bare skin (I was wearing shorts) tingled as leaves continued to skim across my legs. It was nice though because it felt as if someone else was walking with me, that I wasn't all alone. Then there would be a warm breeze that would surround me then flutter away. The presence that the breeze carried, and the way it would touch me, reminded me of a person giving me a hug. My wisdom had always been with me, but the way nature now moved around me because of my mark was completely different. Instead of always listening for my wisdom, I now let the world and environment guide me. It was an amazing thing, and I wondered if it had been the same for my passed-away grandfather. I hoped he had experienced this.

"_Our daughter, you have been hurt. It saddens us to see you feeling the way you are! Is there anything we can do to help you?" _A soft willowy female voice whispered to me. It was impossible, but it almost seemed like I could see a person that fit the voice standing in front of me. There was nothing there, but the way the wind wound through my hair reminded me of fingers. It made me think of my mother, and how she used to do the same thing to comfort me.

"Um, thank you, but I don't think there is anything you can really do. I'm just going to my friend's house; she'll hopefully be able to help me. I'll be better soon, don't worry," I tried to reassure, but the wind whipped through my hair and behind me. Turning around, I saw bushes and leaves shaking violently in the wake of the wind. I must have thought of Jacob while I was talking, because it seemed to be headed in his direction. Hopefully he didn't get hurt.

"_Are you sure you are alright little one? If you want us to take care of the __**problem**__, then we will. No one hurts our child!"_ A very deep and masculine voice bellowed, making me turned towards the tree my hand had been placed upon. Looking up I could see the large trunk swaying back and forth, as the pine needles on its branches seemed to flutter in all directions in an aggressive way. I'd been blessed with the mark, but I hadn't realized this would happen. I thought the forest was supposed to guide/talk to me when it was my time to return home. I was pretty sure they weren't about to tell me that.

"Yes, I'm alright. I think being with you guys has helped." I couldn't help but chuckled at all the different personalities I got to see from the trees, bushes, flowers, and even the mushrooms. It was a nice distraction, and brought me comfort.

A weeping willows branch moved in front of me of me, and helped support me as I climbed over a large fallen log. I didn't need the help, but it was there anyway. It was surprising to see such a large and magnificent tree in the middle of the woods. _"Deary you seem exhausted, would you like to stay with all of us tonight? We would take good care of you, and make sure nothing harmed you. Plus we would all immensely enjoy being in the company of our daughter! Child, oh please stay!"_ The voice reminded you of an over caring old women, or one of those tiny grandmother's that was short and covered in wrinkles, who would always make you cookies. I couldn't help but smile, all these beings barely knew me and yet they cared so much. All their presences around me made the pain in my chest lessen and be replaced with happiness. Each being had different emotions coming from them, but not a single one was bad. They were either joyful, loving, happy, caring, or curious. I was surrounded by nothing but positive energy, it seemed like.

"I would love to stay, but I told my friend where I was going. If I stay here, then I would be lying to him. Plus, if he isn't able to find me, he might worry," I tried to explain, all I got for an answer was more branches wrapping around me and setting me on the ground, and off the fallen tree I had been standing on.

"_Come on, please stay! Your friend will know where you are. He hasn't been that far behind you, at least that is what our sisters tell us from the south. So he'll know where you're at! Please!" _This time it was a childlike voice that spoke up, I looked down at the grass as it began to lightly tickle my feet. I couldn't control myself and let out a soft giggle. They grass just seemed so adorable and playful. Carefully I sat down, and leaned against the fallen tree. The air around me warmed up drastically, and the ground beneath felt soft and comfortable. The forest and air were doing their best to make me comfortable, and by that simple action alone I felt special.

"_Dear you are always special, and should be treated as such. We remember our last child, our son, as if he had walked through our forest yesterday. We can see a lot of him in you, and it brings us such joy. That boy always came to visit us, and would tell us the funniest stories about his family," _The wind told me, her voice whispering in my ear. It sent a slight chill down my spine, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Hearing about my Grandfather made my curiosity peak. I missed my family terribly, but being around others who knew him just made it the slightest bit better.

"Grandfather used to tell me about his different friendships with the environment. He said it was the best thing getting to know everyone. When there were meetings he would always tell stories about the different places he had gone, and what new things he had met. Most kids grew out of his stories, but I never did. Because of that he tried to teach me to understand you guys, but he died before I learned," I said, my voice soft from all the fond memories. Some of my most favorite memories were with him. My mother took up a majority of them, though.

"_That was one of the reasons you were chosen, child. Grandfather saw something in you, and he told us that. At the time we hadn't seen it, but now we do. Your family has been special to us," _The deep fir tree spoke up, he wasn't near us, but he was still a part of our conversation.

"_Yeah, especially your Mama! She was the nicest lady we ever met. She always took good care of our friends!" _The grass said, his childish manor making him sound sweet and innocent. Surprise took my attention from him when he spoke of my Mother. She had never mentioned anything about her being able to communicate with the land. Back at home she did have the most flourishing garden I had ever seen, and in our kitchen window seal there always sat a bed of red roses.

"You knew my mother?" My surprise and curiosity clearly evident in my voice. I couldn't help myself.

"_We didn't exactly know her. She didn't have the same ability as you, deary, or our son, but she was able to talk to her roses and garden. We believe a little of our son's ability was passed on to her. So she was able to understand them, on a small scale," _The weeping willow informed me. I didn't know what to think of what she had just told me. It wasn't a bad thing, but I wished that I knew while my mother was still alive. She might have been able to teach me like Grandpa was. _"Now you are exhausted, dear. I think it's time for you to rest."_

"_Oh please sleep here! We want you to stay. We'll stay extra alert so nothing hurts you!" _The grass told me, its voice ringing loud and clear in my tired mind. The grass would forever be able to make me smile with its pure innocence.

"Alright I'll stay for tonight. Tomorrow I must return, though. I really don't want to worry anyone," I told them. With that I lay down and folded my arm under my head. Everything grew silent as I just relaxed and let my mind wander over what I had learned. It was no use though because no matter what I kept thinking about Jacob. More than anything I wanted to run back to him, wrap my arms around him, and tell him how sorry I was for the way I spoke to him. Thinking about it now, I felt that I was rude and out of place for the way I had spoke to him. Jacob had been hurt a lot, and he didn't deserve what I had said to him. It just felt like he kept pushing me and then I couldn't control myself and exploded.

_People say and do things for a reason._

Yeah, now it felt like my own words were biting me in the butt. That's what I get, though. Distractedly I ran my fingers through the grass. The grass was smooth and soft as silk, and it was relaxing to run my fingers along and through it. The breeze from before came back and lightly played with my hair. Any tension I felt before left me with the winds gentle caresses. My eyes fluttered close and my breathing began to even out. The brink of sleep was getting closer and closer, but paused for a moment when a new wave of warmth washed over me. Slowly I opened my eyes and gazed up at Jacob's large wolf form. He stared back at me intently, but made no move to either leave me or stay with me. So for just a few moments I watched as every time he exhaled a cloud would appear and then disappear. My exhaustion was creeping up on my again though, so I lightly patted the ground next to me. With great ease and almost a grace, Jacob laid down beside me. There was a distance between that wasn't too close or too far, but I didn't like it. Hesitantly I scooted closer to him, and placed my head on his shoulder. For a moment he did nothing, but slowly he began to wrap himself around me. His large tail lay across my legs, and he wound his head around me to rest on my stomach.

I didn't bother to say anything, and just enjoyed the silence that surrounded us. His warmth was very soothing, more so than the warm breeze. There was no stopping the smile that came as I snuggled closer to him. As if he could sense my happiness, his tail began to lightly thump against my legs in a wagging motion. It just made me smile more and pet him along his side. Tomorrow would be the beginning of my week. There would be no sad moments. All we were going to do was spend time together. That was more than I could ever ask for, and just like before I would not forget a single moment of it. Tomorrow would be the new beginning to what the future could hold, and I wasn't scared.


	13. Day One

I couldn't help but let out a slight groan when I woke up. Birds were singing their morning songs, the sun was shining through the tree tops, animals were moving about, and all I wanted to do was snuggle closer and enjoy being close to Jacob. Everything from the day before was forgotten with the rising of the sun, and I wanted to keep it that way. I didn't want to spend my last week here fighting. All I wanted was to leave here with no regrets, because I didn't know when I was coming back. Knowing the guys though, they would make this the most memorable week I could possibly have. These thoughts continued to run through my head as I ran my fingers through Jacob's dew damp fur. In my trance like state I started to think about the forest around us. None of them spoke to me now, but I could sense them all around me. They were a buoyant group, so I knew they were just waiting to talk to me again.

Jacob continued to sleep through the morning, his rising and falling chest putting me in a relaxed state. It was nice to be there with him, but I could sense people approaching us. They'd been wandering around for awhile, so I was just waiting for them to stumble upon us. I couldn't tell it was the pack or not, so it made me a little nervous; and because I grew nervous Jacob picked up on it and woke up. For a few moments he blinked at me, and then let out a wide yawn. His tongue lulled out of the side of his mouth in a cute way and made me laugh out loud. Confusion filled his eyes as he tilted his head to the side, in a curious way. This just made me laugh even harder.

"There you are!" Seth's voice shouted, jumping over a bush and appearing in front of Jacob and I. Jacob seemed to curl himself tighter around me as he looked at Seth, an annoyed look evident on his face.

"Can we help you, Seth?" I asked, placing a head on Jacob's head and stroking his fur. Like the night before, his tail began to thump against my legs as it wagged. Lightly he nuzzled his head into my hand.

"Well Billy told us the two of you disappeared last night, but he wasn't too worried luckily. The reason we're here is because we got plans," He told us, an evil smirk appearing on his face. It made me nervous with a look like that on his face, and I became apprehensive of the situation. I think Jacob was feeling the same way.

"We're actually here to kidnap you!" Quil yelled, appearing on top of the log behind us. Before I could even realize what had happened, Quil had lifted me up and threw me over his shoulder. He did it with such an ease I'm sure everyone would think he was graceful.

"Quil!" I squealed, but couldn't stop myself from laughing. That's when I noticed everyone else standing around. Leah, Embry, Sam, Jared, and Paul stood around Quil and I with smiles on their faces.

"About time we found you. I was getting tired of this walking around crap. Let's get this day started already!" Paul grumbled, and began leading the way. The rest of us followed, with Quil still caring me, and Jacob still a wolf. He trotted next to Quil and me and just stared up at me, and I couldn't help but just smile at him. We had been enjoying our morning together, but we didn't mind our friends showing up like they did. There was plenty of time for us.

"So what are we doing today?" I asked, not directing the question at anyone in particular.

"When you change, you'll know," Leah said, mischief written all over her face. I involuntarily gulped, and glanced at Jacob. He seemed to feel the same way as he looked back at me.

We continued to tromp through the woods for awhile until we broke the tree line and appeared at Sam and Emily's. She was standing on the porch with a bright smile on her face, with Kim by her side, holding her hands in anticipation for our arrival. When we finally stepped on her porch she ushered us all into the house, and left clothes on the porch for Jacob. I only got a second to glance back at Jacob before I was guided to the table and pushed into a chair. Everyone else crowded around the table and quickly filled the room with loud chatter. As I ate the breakfast Emily had given me, Leah and I had our own conversation. I told her what had happened last night, being careful to make sure the rest of the pack didn't hear me. It would have been embarrassing, plus I knew it would make them all feel awkward. Leah was quick to reassure me, and told me not to even bother to think about it. She said that Jacob was to blame, and he was an idiot. All I could do was laugh. If I didn't know Leah, I would have taken offense, but I knew her; so I knew she was just joking around. Jacob was on the other side of me though, and began to growl at her. A stern look from everyone at the table shut him up. It seemed everyone wanted my last week here to be enjoyable.

After breakfast was finished, Leah dragged me from the table and to Emily's room. Before I even had time to question she threw something in my face. When I grabbed the flimsy piece of clothing from my face, I couldn't help but blush. When I looked up at Leah she just smirked at me, and when I went to hand it back to her, she just pointed to the bathroom. She was leaving me no room to debate over wearing the bikini, and held the door close while I changed. I think she knew me too well if she knew to hold the door. If she hadn't been holding the door closed I would have just walked right back out. With a defeated sigh, I stripped off my clothes and put on the two piece bikini. The bottom was a solid lime green, and the top was white with different kinds of green colored flowers on it. Now that I looked at it I realized that it was pretty cute. It then made me curious to see how I would look in it. And so I put it on.

"Oh my god," Leah said when I stepped out. I nervously began to rub my hands together and dig my toes into the floor.

"Well…how do I look?" I asked, my voice shaking from my slight nervousness.

"You look amazing! Everyone is going to be staring at you! Jacob will probably start drooling. Now here, you can wear this over that until we get there." She tossed a black, spaghetti strap sundress at me. I quickly pulled it over the top of me, and straightened it out. The dress was tight around my bust and flowed down to just above my knees.

"Perfect, now let's get out of here."

We walked back into the kitchen, not saying anything to one another, and met up with the rest of the guys. They barely acknowledged us before they were rushing out the door. Jacob was with Quil and Embry, so I let him be. He looked like he was having a good time with them, anyways. In a group behind them there was Sam, Emily, Kim, Jared, and Paul. They were having a conversation of their own, and seemed to be enjoying themselves. That left Seth with Leah and I. Seth just rambled on and on about whatever came to mind. The boy had me laughing almost the entire time, and then Leah would throw in a sarcastic remark which would make them start bickering. It was rather entertaining. That is until the two of them started to whisper quietly to each other. I did my best to eavesdrop, but they would shove me ahead of them so I couldn't listen.

I decided to ignore them and continue walking. I just took in my surroundings and enjoyed the scenery. The golden grasses swayed in the warm breeze, and the sand covered path we walked on was soothing. I loved the feeling of the sand between my toes. Then there was the ocean that came into view. It took my breath away by how far you could see it, and how beautiful it looked in the morning rays of the sun. Now that I had been blessed as nature's child, I saw everything in a different way.

My gazing was interrupted though, when my dress was practically torn off of me and was thrown over my head. I spun around just in time to see it in Leah's hand before Seth swooped in and threw me over his shoulder. His burning arm wrapped around my waist to secure me on his shoulder, before he proceeded to yelled like an idiot. His unoccupied arm was flying all over the place, as he took off running. Leah wasn't too far behind us as she grinned at me like an idiot. That's when it hit me what they were going to do.

"Seth no! Put me down! Don't even think about it! LEAH I'M GONNA KIL-" I had screamed, before I was underwater with Seth. The water was over our heads and clear as can be, and so I could see Seth's expression. He was grinning like the idiot he was as he received a glare from me. Together we swam to the surface and took deep breaths.

"Seth…I hate you."

"All lies, Athena. All lies. You know you love me," Seth smiled, splashing some water on me. I was quick to splash him back and began to realize how cold the water was. Like a bug to a light, I clung to Seth and his warm body. The heat radiated off his body and I sucked it up like a sponge. "For someone who hates me you sure are clingy."

"I was cold…shut up," I grumbled, hiding my blushing face from him.

"Athena?!" Jacob's yell interrupted Seth and mine's conversation. Looking at him I could see concern, hesitation, surprise…and jealousy on his face. It confused at first at what he could be jealous of, but then I realized at how close I was to Seth.

"You better protect me from your knight in shining armor," Seth told me, as he began to swim towards the shore. I clutched my arms tighter around his neck to make sure I didn't fall off, but Seth was keeping an eye on me as well. We were quite a ways away from the shore, but Seth swiftly swam back to the shore. The water actually felt good as long as I was close to Seth's radiating body.

When we reached about waist deep water Seth stopped swimming and began to walk to the shore. You could hear splashing water approaching us, and I looked up in time to see Jacob appearing before us. He plucked me away from Seth, as if I weighed nothing, and checked me over. When it seemed that he had reassured himself that I was okay, he sent a very heated glare towards Seth. It was as if a silent message was passed between the two. In the end Seth just had a sheepish smile on his face.

"Jacob, it fine. We were just having some fun," I tried to lighten the mood. He just gave me a grunt before moving out of the water. When I splashed water in his face, though, he stopped.

"Are you trying to start something, Athena?" He questioned, his dripping hair sticking to his face as he smirked at me.

"Maybe I am. What are you going to do?" I played along with him. And with that he tossed me into the air and let me flop into the water. I stayed under the water for a moment, enjoying the feel of it on my skin, before I popped up for air. With a smile on my face, I floated on my back towards Jacob. There was a huge grin on his face as I bumped into his chest. We'd drifted back into deeper water.

"Enjoying the water?" Jacob asked, continued to smile down at me with a loving look in his eyes. I knew I was blushing because of him, but I was hoping he wouldn't really notice it.

"For the most part, except for the part where a giant decided to throw me in the water," I told him, closing my eyes and soaking up the sun. It felt amazing to actually feel the sun.

"Was the giant handsome?" He asked, a sly smile dancing on his lips.

"That's a matter of opinion," I said, unable to stop a smirk from crossing my face. I couldn't help but egg him on.

"Hey!" I was lifted off my back, and pulled flush against Jacob. There was no space between us except the inch of distance between our noses. I was too caught up in his eyes to even blush. The rest of the guys were probably making some stupid remarks about us for this, but I didn't care. "You don't think your giant is handsome?"

With a sigh in mock defeat, I said, "I guess he could be slightly handsome. I don't want it to go to his head though. So let's keep it a secret between you and me." At that his smile stretched from ear to ear. It made my heart swell to see that my words could affect him in such a way. Leaning forward, I closed the distance between us and placed a sweet kiss on his lips. Our kiss was soft and gentle, which seemed to go perfectly with the situation. And by that single kiss alone everything around us began to disappear.

Too bad people liked to interrupt us. "Dog pile!" Seth yelled, and the next thing I knew I was underwater again. Jacob still had his arms wrapped around me as we both stayed underwater. We were both grinning like idiots at each other, before maneuvering back to the surface. It was more peaceful under water. All the guys were in the water, jumping on top of each other, trying to create a dog pile. All I could do was laugh, because it was the poorest excuse for a dog pile I had ever seen.

"Would you like to join in on their fun, Jacob?" I asked; chuckling as Quil jumped on top of Embry and Seth. This was bound to turn into a war zone.

"Are you kidding me? We all know where this is heading," He joked, slowly backing away from the group. It was as if he hoped they wouldn't notice they were missing us. That wasn't happening, though.

"Join us Jacob!" Embry cried like a girl, effectively tugging on Jacob and pulling him into the group. I laughed as Jacob tried to snatch me, but I quickly moved out of his grasp and to a safe distance away. With the way things were going I could tell they were going to be occupied for awhile, so I went to Emily, Kim, and Leah who were sitting around a fire. Emily and Kim were happily chatting to each other, but I could tell Leah was feeling awkward. So I sat down next to her, not only for the heat rolling off of her, but to give her any comfort I could.

"Have fun?" She inquired in a dull voice. Which means Leah was trying to act aloof about things. Too bad we both knew that wouldn't work with me.

"Pretty much. I will get revenge on you though, for handing me over to your brother to be thrown into the water. That totally broke the best friend code," I told her, seriousness filling my tone. From the corner of my eye I could see her glance at me. I couldn't tell if she was nervous or giving me the look of 'bring-it-on'.

"You so deserved it," She said, a smug look appearing on her face.

"That's cold," I grumbled her, giving her the stink eye.

"You love me." She stuck her tongue out at me. Without even thinking, I pinched it in between my thumb and finger. Her eyes went so wide that I was sure they would fall out of head. You never see that kind of expression on Leah's face. That's when I started to laugh. It got to the point I was laughing so hard that my sides started to ache and I was crying. My arms clamped around my waist just to try and stop the aching.

"Um…Athena, are you okay?" Kim questioned, looking at me as if I was crazy. When I went to answer her all I could do was take in deep gasps of air.

"She's just peachy," Leah told her, her voice dripping with venom.

"Come off it, Leah. We'll just say we're even now," I said to her, taking in deep breaths. My sides continued to ache, but it wasn't one of those aches that hurt, it was where it actually felt good to have the throbbing in your side.

"Whatever," She growled, turning the other direction. Someone wasn't in a good mood.

"Kim, do you want to help me get started on the food?" Emily asked Kim, as if she knew Leah might explode or something. Kim was quick to answer Emily when she saw how Leah was acting. The two drifted to a table that had a barbeque near it and started to prepare hot dogs, hamburgers, and steaks. Who knew what else they were going to make. Emily always went over the top when it came to food, but with the way the guys were it was understandable.

"Alright, Leah, what's wrong?" I questioned, suppressing the sigh that wanted to escape me. This might take awhile, but I knew it had to be done. If I didn't do something she would just be a ticking time bomb for the rest of the night.

"Nothing, why?" She snapped slightly.

"Because you're being a jerk right now. Now you can either tell me what's wrong, or I can just walk away. You decide," I said to her, my tone firm to show how serious I was. For a second she didn't say anything, and refused to look at me. All she did was keep her gaze on the fire, and the longer she refused to talk to me, the more the pang in my chest made itself known. It hurt me that she didn't want to talk to me. With a depressed sigh, I went to stand up. I quickly spotted the guys and began to make my ways toward them, but a hand on my wrist stopped me. Leah didn't say anything, but I slowly turned to look at her. Her gaze was still on the fire, but I knew she didn't want me to go anywhere. So I just stood there in silence, waiting for her to talk up first.

"I'm sorry. I'm just not use to people fighting back, or acting that way with me. It's sort of new for me," She expressed, her tone tight. That just showed how uncomfortable this made her feel. I knew she wasn't use to opening up to other people. I wasn't other people though.

"Leah, if you dish it you have to be able to take it. There's no reason to get defensive about it. You need to learn how to let things go and have fun. You know I'm not picking on you right? I am just trying to have fun," I tried to explain to her. I really didn't want her to get mad about anything I just said to her. All I wanted was for her to understand. Hopefully she figured that out.

"I know, Athena, but it's going to take me awhile to get use to that. Please…try to see where I'm coming from and give me time to adjust," She told me, finally turning her gaze away from the fire, and towards me with a desperate look in her eye. I couldn't help but sigh and pull her into a hug. Her head laid on my shoulder, as I wrapped my arms around her. Slowly she snaked her arms around my waist as well.

"It's hard for you, I know. You just need to know that I'm here for you and you can tell me anything. Now there is no time like the present to take your first steps towards fun." I got her to stand up and pulled her along and in the direction of the water. She looked at me with uncertain eyes, but I knew she was willing to give it a chance. "To the Water!" At my yell the guys turned towards us, smiles on their faces as they yelled at us to come in. That reassured Leah and pretty soon she was dragging me towards the water. She was going to be just fine.

**Author's Note: Hey everyone, I'm so sorry for not updating sooner. I was on vacation, but I'm back now! So I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you guys don't mind, would you please let me know if I'm getting everyone's personalities right. If there is anyway to improve my writing I would like to know. Thank you! Also another thank you to all of those who reviewed: RaRaTwilight, xxxdivinecomedyxxx, Lady GaGa Fan, .Lover.2009, last-blue mage, kiki, XxBabyEmo94xX, and aLiSOn395. And everyone who is taking the time to read my story, thank you!**


	14. Billy's Date

**Thank you KnightTime32 for being my Beta. You did a great job helping me with this.**

Our entire day was spent at the beach, having a good time. The boys were a loud rowdy bunch, egging each other on and taking a whack at each other's egos, but all the same it was fun. For Leah it had been difficult to open up and be comfortable, and things had been a little awkward, along with everyone else, but as the minutes ticked past everyone warmed up to one another and just enjoyed themselves.

My favorite part of the day was when Embry took an interest in my bikini. It was like a chain reaction once he pointed out how I looked. Embry stared openly, and then Paul popped up next to him, and pretty soon all the guys were looking. Jacob had got all defensive when he realized the guys were staring too long, and began to growl threats at them. It was funny to watch him get worked up. I wasn't used to all _the attention_ that the guys were giving me, so I had turned a deep, scarlet red, and stayed that way for awhile afterwards. For the rest of the day Paul would poke fun at me and attempt to make me turn the same shade of red. A couple of times he had succeeded.

Our entire group was silent as we watch the sun dip behind the waves of the ocean that surrounded the distant, large stones. The only sound was the waves crashing along the sandy shore, traces of foam left in their wake, and the fire crackling in the background, randomly letting out a resounded pop. Jacob's arms were wrapped around me, his body heat enclosing around me like a blanket. My head was nestled into his chest, as we enjoyed the view and each other's company; his chest rising and falling was a steady rhythm that relaxed me. Being close to Jacob filled me with such a happiness that I almost thought this was all a dream. It was the moments when he kissed me that I realized he was really here, that he really did care about me. He meant the world to me now, because of how he could make me feel. As we continued to sit there, the breeze cooling us and dropping the surrounding temperature, I realized there was someone else I had met that wasn't here. He meant everything to now, earning his own place within my heart. I hadn't spent much time with him, but I was ready to change that in a heartbeat.

"Does anyone have a cell phone I can borrow?" I asked everyone, all the guys were shaking their heads, looking at me as if I was crazy. Kim pulled one out of her pocket for me though, explaining how her touch screen worked. I told her 'thank you' and began to walk down the beach. Jacob had given me a questioning look, but I just gave him a soft smile and walked away.

The glow from twilight beamed its last few rays, and created the most breathtaking view. The red and orange rays melded into one and created a soft pink color in the sky. In some places the clouds were gray, but they would turn a light pink as they passed over the sun. It was captivating to watch a cloud drift over the sun and change colors the way it did – it reminded me of a sponge soaking up all the color.

"Hello?" Billy's voice broke me out of my staring. His voice was deep, and a little gravely, but it cradled so much comfort in it that there was no reason to be intimidated by it. The same love I had for Jacob was now extended to Billy. He was the family I now held close to my heart, and would protect no matter what the threat was.

"Hey, Billy, it's Athena. Are you doing anything tonight?" I question him, hope seeping into my voice. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at myself, because even I could hear the hope that was mixed in with my voice.

"Dear, you know I'm never busy - except when I'm fishing, than that's a completely different story. Now, why do you ask?" He asked me, his curiosity reminding me of a cat.

"Well I wanted to spend some time with you. Just you and me – no one else to interrupt us. I will even make dinner!" I exclaimed, the way I said I would make dinner almost sounded like a bribe. Billy would understand though, and I was pretty sure he would enjoy a home cooked meal.

"The way you say it makes it sound like it's a date! Jake wouldn't like that too much," Billy laughed; his amusement made me smile softly and warm up on the inside.

"Well I won't tell him if you won't. So, what do you say?"

"Alright, you've tempted me with your dinner. I have something I need to talk to you about anyways. What time will you be getting here?" He inquired, a light tint of excitement edged in his voice. It seemed so easy to pick up on what he was feeling.

"I'll be home in a few minutes, and then I'll make us something to eat. See you soon, bye!" I said, turning around and walking back towards the group around the fire. The sand stuck between my toes and sent a tickling sensation up my legs.

"Alright, see you soon." With that I hung up and jogged the rest of the way, the sand cool against my feet. The entire group was silent as they all turned to look at me. It took me by surprise how serious they're appearances were. I instantly came to a halt and stared at them, my gaze connecting with each and every one of them. Fear instantly pulled at my heart, yanking it in a most painful manner.

"What's wrong?" I asked anxiety coating my voice, staring at them intently, just waiting for the sign to tell me what was wrong.

"Do you have to…leave?" Emily spoke up, her voice laced with sadness. My throat tightened up for a split second when I realized what my phone call must have looked like since I walked away.

"No! I was talking to Billy." The entire group visibly relaxed, but the pain in my heart didn't go away. Jacob had his arms around me in seconds, and distracted me from the ache by his closeness. I tilted my head back and smiled up at him. He was extremely tall next to me, his large form always towering over, and he could easily look down at me.

"Why were you calling my Dad?"

"Because he and I have a date tonight," I told him, a sly look crossing over my face. Jacob's was hilarious, first you could see the jealous look painted across his face, then there was the embarrassed look at realizing he had been jealous of his father. The picture of Jacob, with all his feathers ruffled up, would forever be engraved in my mind. He always managed to have the most hilarious looks on his face. "I'm going to head over there now."

"Do you need a ride?" Jacob instantly asked, appearing by my side. He looked eager, like a fervent puppy, and completely ready to take me home. Warmth spread from my chest and to all my limbs, for the love that came off of him in waves which swirled around me like the wind. If he just stood next to me for the rest of my life, I would be perfectly happy, because there was nothing better than this – his love.

"Thank you, Jacob, but I think I'll just run home," I told him, taking the path towards his house. The moist sand between my toes was comforting, but the warm hand that wrapped around my wrist made me stop. Turning around slowly, I looked up at Jacob. His eyes were shinning with the fire, and held a heartfelt look, and silently he placed a gentle kiss to my forehead; and with that he let me go.

The cool night air swam around me, its presence practically vibrating with all the stories and knowledge it held. No matter where I went I was no longer alone. There was always someone, or something, that was with me – to watch my every step and make sure that I was safe. It was with Jacob that I felt the safest, it would always be that way, and I cherished that. Any other member of the pack I felt extremely safe with, but with Jacob it was just…different.

As I walked through a bit of foliage, the leaved and pine needled branches covering the trees rustled their large limbs a bit, making me smile. They even swayed in my direction as I broke the forest line and walked across the Black's front yard. Turning my attention away from the trees and towards the house, I gazed at Billy as he sat in front of the TV, staring at it intently. It was times like this that I felt that he was feeling alone, and wished more than anything that his wife was still alive, that'd she'd be here to take care of him. She wasn't here, though, and nothing could change that. No matter how many times that I wished, he wished, or even Rachel, Rebecca and Jacob wished it, Sarah wouldn't be back.

Making my way up the steps and into the house, I thought about what I wanted to make for dinner. With Emily's help, I had been able to make sure that the kitchen was well stalked, and that there was plenty to eat. Jacob had quite a large appetite so all the recipes had been doubled, and anytime I was buying something at the store I would make sure to buy three or four of a certain item. So there was always plenty for Billy and me to choose from.

Billy heard me the moment I walked in the door, and was there to greet me with one of his famously warm smiles. It instantly made me smile right back at him. "Hello, Billy, did you think about anything specific you might want to eat?" I asked, leading the way to the kitchen.

"Not really. I would like something warm though. It's rather chilly out and I could use something to warm me up," He told me as I washed my hands. My mind instantly began to wander to something warm to eat, that would be tasty.

"How does chicken schnitzel and fried potatoes sound? Something sweet would be good for after dinner. Do you like banana cream pie?" I questioned, waiting for his approval and his opinion on the desert. From the wide grin I got, I knew he approved.

And with that we got started on our dinner. Billy was amazing at making fried potatoes, so he took it upon himself to make them. It was extremely appreciated as I set on the chicken schnitzels and the banana cream pie. I'd learned a few things from Emily, and now I was able to multitask and make both the chicken and the pie, without anything burning. (That woman was amazing; she should someday write a book with all the she knew how to do.) It was great that she was Sam's imprint, because an alpha definitely needed someone helpful like her. She just put the finishing touches on things, and it made everything seem so much more personal and special.

**Since when have I started looking up to Emily so much?** I thought to myself, keeping a watchful eye on the chicken. It was second nature now to make sure that nothing burned, or got ruined. The boys would eat anything though so it wouldn't be a big deal, but this was for Billy and me. We preferred out food to not be colored black.

"The potatoes are done," Billy stated, rolling himself over to the table and setting them there. Their crisp scent wafted the kitchen and made my mouth water. This was going to be a great dinner.

"I'll just set the table and let the chicken cook. It should be done by then. Then while we eat the banana cream pie can sit in the freezer. Hopefully that'll be enough time. If not we can always have it later," I told him, grabbing silverware, plates, and cups. As I flitted around the kitchen and set the table, I could feel Billy's eyes on me. Out of the corner of my eye I looked at him, enjoying the thoughtful look on his face. He had to have been thinking about his wife, it was just something you could sense. It was amazing how much he thought about her, and how much he still loved her. Every person in the world yearned to have the same feelings as Billy did – to love someone unconditionally and until the very end of time.

Grabbing the chicken, I set it on the table and took my seat. Billy offered to let me fill my plate first but I quickly declined and let him go first. He filled his plate full of chicken and potatoes, taking a deep breath the wonderful aromas, then passed them to me. Silently we ate our dinner, savoring the wonderful flavors as the main course and side dish complimented each other. Everything was wonderful, until about halfway through the meal that a tension began to sing through the air. It put me on edge, and made me glance at him every few minutes. Billy looked completely oblivious to what he was doing, and acted as if there was nothing wrong. I knew better though, even if the wisdom had started to whisper to me. It didn't need to tell me something that I already sensed.

The scrape of Billy's dish across the table made the tension double, making it practically seem as if it were a person sitting at a table with us. In order to distract myself, I began to imagine what 'tension' would look like as a physical human being. That didn't last long though because Billy spoke up.

"There was more than one reason I wanted to have dinner with you, Athena. The first would be that you are a wonderful cook and great company. The second was that we need to talk," He spoke, his tone filled with seriousness. Under the table my hands shook slightly, but I tried my best not to let it show in my face.

"Okay, what do we need to talk about?" I asked, cursing myself when my voice shook. I needed to be strong through this. Plus there was always the possibility that there was nothing wrong, or important, that we needed to talk about.

"We'll start first with your leaving. When Bella left, it tore Jacob apart. He was really attached to her, and when she left I lost my Jake. I…can't do that again. I don't want to lose my son that has finally returned. When you appeared it caused both elation and fear. We were all so happy that Jake finally had someone, but I feared that he would push you away because of how much he loved Bella. He didn't though, and I thank all the spirits for that. And that's why…I can't let you leave again. It would crush me to see him like that," He said, his voice infiltrated with the emotion of his words. This was like a whole new side to Billy, and it made me look at him with different eyes.

"Billy, more than anything I want to stay. To stay with Jacob, you, and the rest of the pack! Our brothers and sisters need me though. They need to know what is going on, and to be ready," I spoke to him gently, trying not to push his feelings too far.

"I know. That's why I've found someone to go from tribe to tribe instead. He's an old friend from Montana who knows of our legends and our world. He'll do a fine job."

"Will the tribes believe him though when he tells him that there is a surviving fox? There are going tribes that'll want to see me visibly to know I'm real," I countered, not trying to be a pessimist, but sensible about this.

"Trust me, Athena, he will do that job. He has his ways of convincing others of the truth. Please, let him do this. Stay here, with us," Billy pleaded, his eyes glazed with tears. My heart broke in two at that moment. Later I was going to tell Jacob how much his father loved him; and that if he ever hurt this man I don't think that I would be able to forgive him. "Let me keep my lovable Jacob."

With a strained sigh I replied, "Alright, you tell your friend that if he has any problems he is to call me, though. We don't need tribes fighting over nothing."

"Why would they fight?" He asked, confusion painted across his face. Billy would forever and always be able to be read like an open book.

"When everything has been taken away, you don't want people to tempt you with false hope," I spoke, the wisdom seeping into my voice.

"How do you know that'll be the case?"

"Because I'm a fox," I stated proudly, my chin raised in the air slightly. It was both a curse and a blessing to be a fox. Some many people looked up to one of us, and it was always our greatest fear that we would let them down.

Billy chuckled slightly, and then looked at me with a gentle and soft smile. "The wisdom you hold is an amazing thing."

"That's a personal opinion," I whispered, Billy didn't hear me though.

"Now that that is settled, I don't want you to tell anyone that you aren't leaving." That completely and utterly confused me. Billy started laughing at me and I knew it was because of the expression on my face. A blush instantly began to snake up my neck and to the tips of my ears.

"Why can't I tell anyone? They'll all be ecstatic that I'm not leaving."

"By not telling them, you will get to see a whole new and loving side of them. It'll be worth it, trust me," Billy said, a knowing look on his face. The curiosity inside me peaked like a flame exposed to air, and it was tugging at my heart in an almost painful way.

"Is there anything else we need to talk about?" I asked, hoping that this was the end of it and that we could enjoy our meal. That was not going to be the case though.

"Yes, there is…Sweetheart, I know that things have been hard, but it's time we know. What happened to your family? We love you more than anything, and we want to protect you. There is a wedge between us and you, though as long as you keep this to yourself. We can also see it in your eyes when you drift off back to memories of your old home. Please tell us, we just want to help you. I can't stand to see one of my children in pain."

That's when the storm hit; throwing every possible emotion it could within me. Since that day I had ran away I had spoken to no one about what happened. It was just too hard to think or talk about, even if Billy was family.

"Billy…I can't. Please-"

"It'll kill you. For weeks I didn't talk about my wife, and each minute that passed felt like a stab to my heart. Eventually I talked to Harry about it, and I felt like a whole new person. It was like someone had lifted the wool from my eyes and I was able to see what my pain had did to everyone else. The sadness and pain not only affects you, but all of those around you. We're all worried about you," Billy told me softly, his hand reaching across the table and taking mine. Gently he rubbed circles on the top of my hand, each stroke bringing a new wave of comfort. The moment I met his eyes I knew I would tell him everything, and that scared. So with great reluctance I looked at him. "Come on honey."

"There we five people in my family. My mother, father, brother, grandfather, and me. For awhile my grandmother was alive, but she passed away in the night. It was because she was so old, and we were all happy that she passed in such a peaceful way. She was the best. She was always having something cooking in the oven and an open door for visitors and advice seekers. Her beauty shined on the inside instead of the outside. My mother was the next to pass… In my tribe everyone called her our angel, because she was so beautiful and represented our people so well. At bonfires she'd shine the most. Every chance she got she would get up and dance, catching everyone's eye with the grace that no one should possibly have – like the branches of a weeping willow swaying in a gentle breeze. (You would have loved her if you had met her.) At night she would always tell stories about her and my father's childhood, and all their romantic stories. Her stories kind of remind of the way you tell the Quileute legends. She was the loveliest person to know, and every night I would pray to the spirits to make me as beautiful as my mother. Silly isn't it?

"When I was younger, maybe eight or nine, she died. For a year she was in and out of hospitals. The doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with her, and couldn't stop what was killing her. They figured it was cancer and wanted to start her up on chemo. Mother didn't want that though. She told the doctors to forget it and they were no help. My brother and I asked her why she didn't take her medicine, and all she said was 'I want to be myself for as long as I can, to love my two beautiful children as I am'… It was about a week after that she died, and just like grandmother, she passed away in her sleep. I don't think I've ever cried so hard in my life. It wasn't until her funeral that I finally stopped.

"Everyone around me was dressed in black, crying silently to themselves… I didn't though. Just like my mother used to dance at the bonfires, I could feel the great spirits dancing out of all of us. Knowing that the spirits were there reassured me that my mother was in a good place, and that just like the spirits watched over me so would she.

"For years after that there were many painful reminders about her, and the pain never went away. We all learned to live with it though. Living our lives the way she would want us to. That's why I've become so proud of being a fox, because she would have been the proudest mother the planet had seen if she knew. And that's how I lived, pushing through everything for her, trying my best to be who I was raised to be…and I did, until the attacks started happening.

"It was a warm summer day, the year after I graduated, when the first attack happened. All the foxes had a tight kinship, like that of the pack, but we didn't work together the same as the pack does. We did things a little differently. Anyways, the fox who died was Lewis, and his partner was Kyle. Kyle survived, but was practically on his deathbed when we found him. He told us that the beasts who attacked them wore black cloaks and sucked Lewis dry. It was the Volturi, we found out because the elders told us. More and more foxes began to disappear and we had no way to prevent the deaths. The attacks had no consistency so we couldn't protect ourselves. Then the day came when they completely wiped us out.

"We had all been home, enjoying the weekend with our families, when we heard the war drums thundering through our quiet and peaceful community. Everything from there happened so fast, and turned into complete chaos. It felt like a dream as I listened to my brother tell me to run. Over and over again he shook me by my shoulders and told me to run as fast as I could, to not look back. Then he left with my father and grandfather, straight into the screams that could be heard for miles. I've never been so scared in my life as I was then. I knew what was happening to my tribe, to my family…and yet I listened to my brother. Like the coward I am I ran! I was so proud to be a fox and yet I didn't stay and fight for my people! I didn't protect! If I had been there I could have made some difference, stopped at least one vampire. Instead I listened to my brother…and I let them all die." Tears streamed down my face as the pain and sorrow wrapped around me, embracing me like a mother would embrace their child. I collapsed to the floor, my head in my hands as sobs ripped across my chest, threatening to tear my lungs apart, as the screams echoed in my head. The scared and horrified look on my families faces as I ran out the door, surfaced, and reminded me of how terrified they were of the fight they were approaching. There were so many things I could have done differently. I could have told father sooner about mother being sick, I could have ran right out after my brother, I could have turned around and returned home to see what had become of the tribe. Would they even let me come back? Or would they shun me for running away?

"Athena, honey, come here," Billy commanded, but I shook my head and let out a pitiful whimper through my sob. At the moment I was broken, and all I wanted to do was curl in on myself and hold myself together. So I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. Making myself as tight and as small as I possibly could. For a few minutes I didn't even move, not even when Billy placed his hand on my back, letting the pain swallow me whole. "Athena, come on. Let's go sit on the couch." Slowly and gently, he began to unwrap my arms from my knees, placing them on his shoulders, and eased my legs from being securely pressed to my chest. Just like a hurt child would, I crawled onto Billy's lap and curled myself around him. My arms were tight around his neck, and my knees were tucked against his side.

As smoothly as possible, he rolled us into the living room and just held me. With light caresses, he would run his fingers through my hair, and with a soft voice he would whisper sweet nothings in my ear. He talked about anything and everything that was positive and happy. He told me about Jacob, his wife, and his friends. He even told me about his fishing trip. The way he told the legends at the bonfire was the same way he whispered these stories into my ear. It slowly eased me from strained state, and put me in an almost dull, drunken state. In wars they said that some soldiers would get death eyes, and it made me wonder if you could get the same thing from emotional pain. If it was possible, I was sure I would share the eyes that many soldiers had.

With Billy's arm around my waist, his thumb stroking my cheek, and his whispers in my ear, I began to fall asleep. Hoping that the darkness would swallow me up and take me away from this pain. Fear clutched my heart for just a moment, as the thought of escaping to the darkness wouldn't help me get away from the pain …what if it was so much worse in the dark?

----------

"What's wrong with her? What happened?" A voice intruded my unconscious. I just snuggled into the warm embrace I was in, and did my best to ignore it.

"We talked, and I learned a lot. Now stop worrying so much. She's just emotionally drained and needs her rest. She's been on one poignant roller coaster lately it seems. Just let her rest, Son, and she'll be better when she wakes up," a warm voice spoke, its words vibrating through my ear. It pulled me out of my sleepy haze just a little bit more.

"What did you possibly talk about to make her end up like this?" The same voice from before, growling out threateningly. Hearing that voice speak in such a way pulled at my heart, and made me want to wake up completely. I was so tired though…and I couldn't push myself to wake up fully.

"If you don't calm yourself down and be quiet you are going to wake her up. We talked about what made her into the wonderful women she has become."

"Could you please be a little more specific, Dad?"

"We talked about her family Jacob, and now we've started the healing process. She needs you more than you could possibly know. If she ever tells you to leave, or walks away, don't let her. Pull her back and hold her close, for she has a broken soul, and needs someone to always and forever be there for her. No matter what happens, or what is said, you have to be there for her. Can you handle that?"

"Yes, because I love her, and I won't ever let her be hurt again."

"We'll see Son…we'll see," the wise voice whispered, and I drifted back off into my peaceful slumber. Their voices and words dancing through my mind, but I couldn't understand them; and as soon as I woke up, they would forever be forgotten.

**Everyone I am so sorry for the long wait. School started and it just threw me for a loop. I've had to adjust to my new schedule, and I've finally adjusted to it. Hopefully the next update won't take as long, and I won't have a sad excuse (like school). Anyway, thank you .Lover.2009, XxBabyEmo94xX, aLiSOn395, and Wolfy Pup for your reviews. It always makes me happy to hear from you guys. Until next time, bye!**


	15. Just Us

**Thanks to my beta this chapter is finally out! Sorry for the long wait guys. Writers block and school aren't a good combination. So thank you Ever Uley! And thank you TwilightEclps, Bloody Midnight, FairyNinjaPrincess, xxxdivinecomedyxxx, XxBabyEmo94xX, kiki, .Lover.2009, Julie's Jewel, and for the reviews. You guys make my day!!!**

I was completely relaxed and comfortable as the sun beat on me through the window. It felt almost as if I could melt into the couch that's how relaxed I was. The sun wasn't what woke me up though, the warm thumb stroking my cheek is what did it. I knew right away that it was Jacob, and I reveled in the feel of his presence and touch. The silence was killing me though, since I gained the ability to talk to nature I was never left in silence. They were everywhere and always talking to me, and now I couldn't stand the silence. Slowly, I opened my eyes and peered up at him, and took in his expression. My breath froze in my throat, as I took in an expression I had never seen him have before.

The hair upon his head was tousled in random directions, that resembled bed head, and the smile on his face was barely seen yet you knew it was there. His dark chocolate eyes were soft as they gazed at different parts of my face, different emotions flashing around in his eyes. Our eyes connected with one another, and everything just stopped. It was like the silence after a storm, as we gazed at one another. I never thought it was possible to have such intense eyes, but it was being beautifully proven to me that I was wrong. A gentle smile couldn't be stopped from crossing my face, as looked up at Jacob. Gently, I placed my hand on the side of his face, and let my thumb rub across his bronze cheek.

"Hey, beautiful," Jacob said, his voice soft as he covered my hand with his. There was a pinch at my heart from the compliment, because of how he said it and I couldn't help but blush. Compliments were only ever given to me by my blood family, never anyone else, and it made me feel extremely special hearing it from him.

"Hey, handsome," I replied, taking in the smell of the forest that rolled off of him in waves. He must have had a morning run for the scent to be that fresh. The scent was familiar to me and it put me in an even more relaxed state than I had been in before.

"How was the date with my dad?" he questioned, sitting down by my stomach as I rolled onto my side to make room from him. My stomach grew warm from the heat that radiated off of him, and a knot formed in my stomach from the contact, but the heat brought me no comfort because of his question. The question also made me look away from him and to the TV that sat across from us. It's not that the date was bad, it just made some unwanted memories resurface. It would be a few days before I would be back to my normal self, and to get my emotions back under control. I knew the ache in my heart would never go away, and that it would always be with as if it were my best friend.

"It was fine. Dinner was really good," I told him, tucking my hands up under my chin, the rough surface of the couching feeling a little uncomfortable against them. It was better than the heated stare I could feel coming from Jacob that made me nervous.

"You don't have to lie to me, you know. I can see the hurt in your eyes as plain as day. Please, just tell me what is wrong. If you tell me I can help you and make you happy, Athena," Jacob spoke with emotion soaked into his voice. I couldn't help but to be compelled to look at him, and see the hurt expression on his face.

"The past, Jacob, that's what's wrong. Everyone has some sort of past, and mine is no different than anyone else's. It's not that big of a-"

"Yes it is!" Jacob snapped, turning my face towards him with both his large hands on the sides of my face, "You are my imprint and nothing is more important than you. I don't care about everyone out there, you are what matters, Athena. So please, tell me."

I was stunned into a dead silence as I was forced to look at him. Tears pricked my eyes and my vision of him blurred. I hated crying, but I couldn't help it. "It hurts too much. I don't…I can't…please, Jacob," I choked out, the sobs catching in my throat and making it hard to talk.

"It's alright, honey. I'm here, I'm always right here," he whispered in my ear as he gathered me in his arms. The tears silently fell from my face as I clung to his shirt, welcoming the comfort he brought me. Heat seeped through my shirt as one his hands stroked my back, while the other one pet my hair. It was very soothing and the seconds that slipped past it put me in a relaxed state. Jacob really did his best to take care of me.

"Thank you, Jacob," I whispered into his neck, snuggling closer. For the rest of the day he didn't ask me questions, but I knew I would have to tell him soon.

Hours trickled by and all we did was lay together on the couch and watch TV. During lunch Billy had heated up the previous nights dinner for us to eat, and brought us each a slice of the banana crème pie I had made. Jacob had his large appetite and ate all the left overs plus almost the entire banana crème pie. When I had looked at him funny he just mumbled it was good and turned his attention back to the TV. That was the only time he said anything, and we watched a movie marathon on Sci-Fi for the remainder of the day. We were both sprawled out along the couch, Jacob's chest pressed to my back, and his arms was lazily tossed over my waist. Chills crept up my back as his fingertips light ran across my bare stomach. It felt amazing, but I tried to keep my focus.

Halfway through our fifth movie I started to doze off, Jacob's warmth a welcomed comfort, and his presence lulling me into relaxation. Everything he did, and the man he was, made me love him more than the air I breathed; and I wouldn't give it up for the world. And now as we watched movie after movie, my mind began to wander, thinking about a great future we could have together. With little mini Jacob's running around, a beautiful little house we would own with werewolves constantly running in and out, and most of all the happiness we would share together. I couldn't help but gaze at Jacob, through a sleepy haze, as my beautifully daydream flowed through my mind just like the currents of a river. Jacob felt my staring and looked down at me, his deep brown eyes questioning me as a soft smile crossed my face. I tucked an arm under my head, tangling my fingers in my hair, so I could look at him easier.

"What is it?" He asked, his tone light and curious.

Looking from his eyes to his lips I answered, "I was just daydreaming."

"You mind explaining a little more, honey?" With his question my daydream appeared at the front of my mind, letting me relive it all over again. The knot the built in my chest seemed so tight that I felt it would snap. This little dream just made me so happy, made me want it so badly.

"I was thinking about us. How things would turn out someday." And with a few simple words, the brightest smile he could possibly give appeared on his face. The way he got excited reminded me of a little boy being able to go outside and play, or being given a new toy; he was just so happy.

"Tell me what you see, how things will turn out." So I did, describing every little detail I possibly could. I told him how I thought our house would be two stories tall laying right on the edge on the forest so we could easily phase and run, the house would be a forest green to blend in with everything around it, the inside feeling absolutely like home with all of the pack there and all the kids that would be running around. When I mentioned kids, his expression become serious and searching, I don't know what he was looking for, but he kept staring at me as if I had the answer. That he would some how find it, and even though he kept looking, I continued to tell him about my daydream. With every word that left my lips it felt like he grew more serious, he gaze heated, till I eventually stopped.

Finally it was my turn to question him, "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"Never, Athena, never. There is nothing you could say wrong, but…is this what you want? To have a family with me, and a home of our own, where we can grow together and live through everything together?" He questioned, a slight glint in his eyes as they grew watery.

Sitting up, I placed both my hands on the sides of his face, letting my thumbs rub gently across his cheeks. A silence surrounded us as we just stared at each other, his brown pools intense as he yearned for an answer I never knew he could need; because if you were in my place you would know that he **needed **to hear to answer, to know that this is what I wanted. "I want nothing more than that, Jacob, as long as your there with me. If you aren't there…than I don't want any of it. I feel like that without you…there is no home, and that I can't have these breathtaking dreams. You mean everything to me now, and I don't want to lose the last important thing in my life."

"Athena," Jacob's voice cracked, as his arms wrapped around me and pulled me to him. The way he clung to me made a tight ball form in my stomach in an almost painful way. And the way he held me almost seemed like he was desperate to have me close, his fingers dug into my back and wove their way into my hair, bring us that much closer. Before I had any time to react he was crying, his body quivering as sobs broke through his being, and even though this situation was serious my body shivered every time his warm breath would caress my shoulder. There was no possible way to enjoy it though, because every time a tear would hit my shoulder it felt like there was a knife cutting apart my heart.

"Jacob, shh, it's alright. I'm right here, there's no reason to cry. Please tell me what's wrong, I promise everything will be okay," I whispered into his hair, as I crooked my arms around his neck, and my fingers disappeared into his hair. One hand massaged the back of his neck, while the other ran through his hair in an attempt to sooth him.

"I always thought…that I'd…I mean…I never thought that…" He struggled, his arms tightening around me as he grew frustrated.

"Shh, just breath and try to relax," I whispered, as I continued my gently strokes in an attempt to help him calm down.

He took a moment before taking a deep breath and finally speaking, "I've always had my packs' thoughts swimming with my own, and the dreams that they had with their imprints…I just never thought that I'd be in their position, you know? It just used to seem so unbelievable to have such meaningful dreams with our imprints. The fact that you dream about this, that I'm even in this dream with you, means…_everything _to me. I don't think there is anything else out there that I could want more than to have a future with you, Athena." I couldn't help but laugh at this silly man before me, because he never realized that he deserved to have these dreams more than anyone. It hurt to think that he thought he didn't deserve this. For everything Jacob has been through he deserved so much more.

I kissed the side of his temple before saying, "It's your turn now, Jacob. You get to start making your own dreams from now on, instead of sharing everyone else's. And I'll do everything I possibly can to make them happen, because I know you deserve it."

"Promise?" Jacob whispered into my neck as he buried his face there, and with his one word question dread filled me. Who knew what was going to happen with all the hunters and the Volturi, who knew how everything would end, and who knew who would make it out alive.

"Yes…I promise." And the only reason I said it was because I needed hope. Hope that would help me through what was to come, and hope for the wonderful future that comes after it. As we sat there, with the TV flickering and making noise in the background, we both drifted off into our own thoughts, being reassured by each other's presence.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Jacob…" an angelic voice whispered to me, making my chest tighten with love. I would never grow tired of this feeling, and would cherish it everyday that passed. "Jacob…" the voice whispered again. It took me a minute, but I groggily woke up and was greeted with the most wondrous sight the world could possibly offer.

It was Athena, held against my chest with a serene look on her face. Her intense green eyes stared at me as her delicate fingers traced my eyebrows, cheekbones, noise, and lips. A fire erupted inside of me as she gently caressed my lips, and just like any other time I'm near her I got lost in the emotions within me. There were so many emotions that it was overwhelming, and the only way to quench them was to have Athena close, but even then it wasn't enough. When her lips touched mine though, whether it was sweet and gentle, or rough and passionate, everything disappeared. And as her lips gently touched mine, filled with pure innocent love, everything was lost except her. I kissed her back with the same gentleness and love, arms snaking around her and light touching her side. It was difficult to tell if her skin was warmed by our kiss or by being so close to me with my heat soaking her. I loved it when she was near, or wrapped in my arms, never questioning my abnormalities. She just accepted them.

"Hey, handsome," she greeted, lightly kissing me again. My chest knotted up at her affections, so as she pulled away I quickly had us kissing again, not wanting her to leave so soon. She just smiled into the sweet kisses we shared and gladly reciprocated.

"Hello, beautiful," I greeted her as well, but laughed when she started blushing. Whenever Athena was complimented she would blush and become timid. It was obvious she hadn't been complimented a lot in her life, but with me around from now on she would be overwhelmed with them, at least until she left at the end of this week…

"Can we go out? I feel like I haven't phased in forever…I miss it," she spoke, her voice drifting off as sadness flickered in her eyes. It hurt to witness it and it made me feel slightly abusive for not giving her her needs. There were days when I needed to phase and here she was, cooped up in someone's house or surrounded by the entire pack. She needed to feel the sense of freedom I always felt when I phased.

I quickly got off the couch, carefully holding Athena to me in the process so she didn't jostled too much, and set her on her feet. Her eyes widened in surprise and I couldn't help reveling the expression, she always had so many beautiful facial appearances. "If that's what you want to do with the rest of the day then your wish is my command," I told her, bowing down to her in a joking manner, hoping I would hear the elegant soprano laugh she has. It only took a few seconds before I got my reward of the noise.

"Come on," she laughed, as she pulled me up and out the door, moving as fast as fast as she could while pulling my large for along with her. It was finally my turn to laugh at her eagerness as she let go of my hand and disappeared into the woods. I sat on the porch steps, waiting for her to appear, and wanting to give her privacy as she phased. After all she would have been nak… I quickly stopped my mind from wandering as I picked at the wood steps, and took in the different colored grains.

There was a snap of a twig, making me look up and watch as Athena leapt out of the forest. Her red fur was glistening in the sun and look light and fluffy, but looked silky as rose petals…my manliness was dropping. She approached me with a quick and elegant gate that none of us wolves possessed, which enhanced her feminineness. As she approached though I couldn't help but notice how her legs were longer than a normal fox, yes I know she was a shape shifter, but she should have still kept the characteristics of a fox. Pushing the thoughts to the back of my mind, I darted to the woods and phased myself. I welcomed the silence of no one else being phased, but disliked it at the same time. Someone should have been on patrol to watch for hunters. Just because we didn't smell anything didn't mean they still weren't out there, they could have been anyone.

Stepping out of the woods, I focused on my hearing and smell to see if there were any threats waiting for us. I easily became distracted by Athena as she approached me with ears perked forward and tail swaying back and forth in a pleasant manner. You could tell she was happy just by the way she was carrying herself. The pleasing view of her disappeared as she dashed in the direction of the beach, her ears flat against her head as she leapt over uneven ground. I just watched for a moment before quickly following, earth crumbled beneath my paws and the smell of the ocean and Athena wafted my senses from being down wind. I loved it.

Our running soon turned into a game of cat and mouse as we tried to catch one another. Athena was swift, and just when I thought I would catch her she would take off again. Once in awhile she would let me get her, but that didn't last long before she would get me a few minutes later. The entire time she moved with elegance that kept me in awe, even as she galloped by my side. It made my chest swell with pride that such a wonderful and gorgeous women cared about me or gave me a second thought.

When we reached the beach out gates slowed down to a slow stroll as we walked next to one another. Athena stood to about my shoulder, making it easy to bend near her and lightly lick her muzzle or gently push her playfully. We were having such a carefree day together, and wanted nothing more than to share more of them with her. With that thought my muscles flexed with the desire to run and find these hunters, or the Volturi, and stop them from ruining something so perfect. It almost felt like my instincts were yelling at me too, just by the way my body quivered and a pressure built up inside my head. I could tell it was my wolf that was doing this, making the instinct so strong, and just when I thought I would I would follow through Athena lightly nuzzled close to me, making us stop. Her body was pressed closely to mine, her tail lightly caressing me, as she lightly rubbed her muzzle along the underside of my neck. It was comforting, soothing, and made me wonder if she knew what had been happening within me. When she stepped away from me, her eyes questioning me, I knew she could tell something was wrong, and it wounded me to think that I had ruined the wonderful time we were having. Quickly I assured her by nuzzling her neck, making her relax and lick the top of my head in that loving manner she held.

The moment was forgotten as we explored the forest together, running into all sorts of wildlife. The forest just seemed to brighten around Athena and made me look at it in a totally new way. She would become totally absorbed with it sometimes, and I wondered what possible knowledge the leaves, grass, or bushes around her could possibly be sharing. Even a doe with a white spotted fawn approached her, no ounce of fear showing as she licked Athena's forehead and shared a silent conversation. The entire time the fawn bounced around happily, not even startled when he saw me. I knew that Athena would protect them with her life, even if I was the one who was the threat. At first it bothered me, but as the day passed and I saw the connection she had with everything I grew to understand and respect it. This place was just as much apart of her as I felt she was apart of me, so I knew how important everything was. When a cougar approached though I grew apprehensive, this was the first predator to come near and I couldn't but feel she was a threat. She completely ignored me like the fawn, and blew off my warning growl when she started to rub Athena's cheek with her own. Athena was my imprint and it was my duty to protect her, but when I took a step forward to separate the two she stopped me by standing protectively in front of the large cougar and growling at me. The look was menacing as her lip curled back over her teeth, and instead of making me back down, the thought of how she would be a protective mother of our pups presented itself in my head.

She didn't hold my protectiveness against me as we continued on our journey and stopped on a hilltop. Once at the top, I laid down with Athena comfortably relaxing against my side. We stayed upon the hill, cuddling and loving each other as the sun slowly fell towards the horizon. I would ruffle the fur along her scruff, making her scent roll off of her and surround me, putting me in an even more relaxed state than before. She would show her affection by rubbing her face along the side of mine or down my neck. It was a sweet and innocent gesture that I knew only she could pull off and affect me with.

Then as the sun was setting and shedding its last few rays of light for the day, I saw the most amazing thing. The wisdom of many of the tribe elders appeared on Athena's face, but it seemed much wiser and seemed to know. It was…almost mystical. Dad had the same expression on his face when he would tell tribal stories around the bonfire. Now that Athena showed the same characteristics I wondered if someone had to be blessed with this unseen gift. The expression washed away from her face as she turned from me, being replaced with love and mischief. Before I had time to figure out what the look was for I was tackled to the ground, my chest and underbelly lightly being nipped at. I couldn't stop the wolfish laugh that escaped as I scrambled to get away, carefully batting at her with my paws. She was relentless though and continued to assault me. My only option was to go on the offense, so I reversed the positions and attacked her, loving the way her eyes twinkled and the light barks the escaped as her laughter. Satisfied that she couldn't breath any longer, I stopped with one paw on each side of her, and just stared down at her. No matter the time of day, whether it be the suns rays or the moons ray, they enhanced her beauty. The only sound was the crickets melody and the breeze passing through the leaves. Together they harmonized as natures song, creating a relaxed and romantic moment for us. More than anything I wanted to be human so I could pull Athena close to me, whisper all the loving words I could to her, and show her how much I loved her. Tonight was not the time or place for that, nor did I think Athena was ready, when it was time it had to be perfect. Now it was just us, bonding, and getting to know each other that much more.

Athena rolled back onto her stomach, leaning against one of my legs, and looked up at me. We continued to stare at one another, but she broke it when she licked my cheek and stood up. Her back ran along my chest as she stood up, making me stop breathing, and flicked me lightly with the tip of her tail. Then she walked away from me as if nothing happened, her hips swaying nicely in the moonlight. Like the love sick pup I was, I followed not paying any attention to where we were going until we came upon home. The lights were off, so I knew dad was out.

Athena disappeared into one part of the forest while I disappeared into another, phasing back. Hurriedly I pulled back on my close, not wanting to waste a single second with Athena, and dashed back towards the house. She was just stepping out of the woods and I let her beauty sweep me away once more. Her hair was in complete disarray, going in every direction, but it was her green eyes that caught my attention the most. They practically sparkled with happiness, joy, love, whatever you wanted to see. Even though most couldn't tell, her skin wasn't deathly pale like a lot of red heads were, it was darker, more tan, because of the native blood that ran through her; and it made her eyes stand out that much more. In my eyes she was a beautifully exotic creature, and she was my imprint. She was my everything…

"What do you think about making a fire while I make some dinner? You must be hungry," She spoke, her voice music to me after the long silence we shared through the day. The silence today was utterly enjoyable though, there wasn't a single part of the day I didn't love.

"I would like that a lot. You need help with anything, any thing at all, let me know," I told her, holding open the front door and letting her walk through first. She sent a smile up at me I had never seen before…dare I say it but it was absolutely adorable when she was trying to be flirtatious when the mood didn't even call for it. She was unique, but I wouldn't take her any other.

Athena wandered into the kitchen and I headed for the living room, preparing a warm fire. The wood weighed nothing in my hands as I tossed into the fireplace, and once I knew that it would stay alit I headed towards the kitchen. The quiet clatter of silverware moving around was the only sound I could hear, so I peeked around the corner to watch her.

Athena had her hair pulled back into a high pony, that swayed with all her movements, and flour smeared on her cheek. It was hard to suppress a laugh as I watched her pour batter onto a skillet, getting batter all over her arms. The entire time she moved around the kitchen she had a soft smile on her face, and a light sweet hum emitting from her. She completely enthralled me as she moved about the kitchen, and she had me curious when she whipped up what looked like some kind of white dip. I sniffed at the air to identify it, but the only answer I got was that it was something sweet. Her pancakes were a beautiful golden brown as she piled them higher and higher onto a plate. I loved how she made meals for my appetite. It made my chest constrict knowing that cared, so I stepped out of my hiding place to help her.

"Can I carry anything?" I asked, never taking my eyes from her lovely face.

She gave me a loving smile before saying, "Just carry the pancakes. I'll take care of everything else."

"Wanna eat in the living room?" I questioned, hoping she would enjoy eating in front of the warm fire. Not that she needed the fire's warmth when she had me.

"Sure, that'd be nice and comfortable." With that she picked up silverware, her white dip, and some freshly cleaned strawberries I hadn't seen in the sink. She walked in front of me, and like I'd always done I took her in. From the way her hair swayed, to her long legs, I made sure to miss none of it and forever remember it.

I pulled the coffee table closer to the fireplace, to set our food on, and laid a blanket on the floor. Athena curled close to me before getting her food ready, completely oblivious to the way I stared at her. She was adorable the way she nibbled at her food, and it distracted me from my own meal…for a few seconds that is. While Athena ate with delicacy, I wolfed my food down like I had never eaten before. The fact that I was a werewolf and Athena's cooking was amazing didn't help the way I ate. Athena didn't care how I ate, she just smiled up at me like it was normal. Feeling my love for her overflow me I pulled her into my lap and against my chest, relishing in the way she fit so perfectly. She made no protests and reached for her dip and strawberries. Silently I watched her swirl the strawberry in her white creamy dessert, then offer it to me. That light smile was still on her face and I carefully bit the strawberry, surprised by the sweet taste that filled my mouth.

"What is that?" I asked, blushing when she rubbed her finger along the side of my mouth, cleaning the dip off of my face and licking her finger clean.

"It's a marshmallow dip. Do you like it?"

"Like it? I love it!" I smiled at her, making her blush. For the next half an hour we enjoyed the strawberries and silence together. Once those were gone I just held her, rubbing her arms softly, placing light kisses along her neck. I did little things to show her how much I loved her, but I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud.

"Jacob?" Athena whispered so quietly I almost thought she didn't say anything.

"Yes, Athena," I spoke gently into her ear.

"Can I tell you my story?" It felt like Athena had refused to tell me her story for so long, that it was surprising to hear it. It was hard to believe she wanted to tell me now. The next few hours she spent telling me every detail of her life. My love for her grew tremendously as she spoke, because she now trusted me enough to truly know her. The strength and compassion instilled in her were two of the things I loved the most.


	16. Girls' Day

**Sorry for the long wait, but here it is! Thank you ShatteredKunai, Tigeress Noel, lolagurl124, TwilightEclps, and Julie's Jewel!**

Jacob held me close to his chest, his knuckles lightly rubbing my arms. The movement was soothing, comforting, but I refused to lull off. Looking at Jacob I could tell he was in deep thought. His brow was knitted together, his eyes reflecting the flames of the fire, and his lips were set in a tight line. So I sat there, silently waiting for what he would have to say. As I had told Jacob my story he, didn't utter a single word, but when he was upset by something he would shake. When I was done he didn't really say anything, he just held me close.

"They could have survived, your brother and your dad. They could still be out there somewhere," Jacob whispered, breaking from his trance and looking upon me. His comment saddened me, but I didn't let the pain show physically.

"I don't want to get my hopes up, Jacob. I hurt every time I wonder if they're out there or not. It's just easier to accept the negative instead of hoping for the positive," I tried to explain, anyone would be able to hear the pain lacing my voice, but I didn't want Jacob to. He didn't want to put me in any discomfort and I didn't want that to stop him from asking questions.

"Then I'll have to hope for us, because I want to meet them. They're important to you, so they're important to me," he stated matter-of-factly, and all I did was smile up at him sadly, "So, I noticed when you phased that you look like a fox, but at the same time you don't. Aren't we supposed to keep the traits of the animals we're phasing into?"

That was a good question, and I was surprised that he picked up the way I looked different. I answered, "It's been an on going argument within the tribe as to what we are. We sent in some of our hair to have tested as to what we are, and the results came back that we were man-ed wolves. They weren't a hundred percent sure as to if that was what we really are. We think that somewhere in our lineage that a wolf and fox were mated to each other, and that's how we got our unique look. We definitely have the characteristics of a fox, no one has doubted that, but we show some characteristics of a wolf. It's caused my people great confusion, and many arguments have risen because of this."

"A fox and a wolf? Sounds awfully familiar," Jacob joked with a cheeky smile, making me giggle. He could be so cheesy, but the way he said things was adorable.

The next hour was spent talking about whatever came to mind. Jacob would talk about Billy, making me pay full attention, then I'd talk about Leah, and during this he would give me funny looks but he listened with interest. Leah was officially my best friend, whether people liked it or not. She needed me and I was willing to be there for her, and while being in an unfamiliar place I needed someone, especially a girl, who I could talk to. There was something different between talking to a girl and boy, like Jacob. Even if he was my boyfriend, there were just some things I didn't want to talk to him about. Slowly he was accepting and realizing that the friendship Leah and I had wasn't going anywhere. As the night wore on fatigue settled into our worn bodies, bringing yawns with the exhaustion.

"Jacob, let's go to bed. I'm tired," I whispered, nuzzling into his chest and welcoming his warmth that never wavered.

With a chuckle he said, "Am I not comfy enough? Cause I'm perfectly fine right here."

"Please?!" I whined quietly against his chest, and with my words his muscled chest rumbled with more laughter. As a result, I glared up at him in an attempt to get him to listen, but my glaring was like competing in a staring contest with a rock. A rock that had a smile like the sun, and eyes that always twinkled with laughter and love. He was distracting and because of his physical attributes my glaring wavered.

"I'm still not very convinced," He stated, as if I would do something else to make him listen. I was beyond tired though and wasn't going to attempt to get him to follow me to bed.

"Fine, you sleep down here while I sleep in bed. You'll just get acquainted with the couch earlier in life than most men do," I told him in a tone with emotion that showed I cared not what he did. I pushed against his chest, got to my feet, and dodged his hands that swiped at me in order to bring back to the floor with him. "Good night, Jacob."

He got off the floor, and swooped me into his arms before I even stepped two feet out of the living room. Not a sound escaped me as I stared up at him in surprise. All he did was hold me in his arms, as if I weighed as much as a blade of grass, and ignored my stunned state. "I don't ever want to be a day or night away from you, Athena, never," he told me, a sternness lacing his voice that forced me not to doubt his words. Jacob could always become passionate about the simplest things, and this side of him was taking me time to adjust to. No matter the amount I needed to adjust for him I would, because I loved him.

"Then you'll come to bed with me now?" I spoke in a soft tone, hoping I would lighten the serious comment he had just made. He just smiled at my words before nodding his head. All I could do was smile at him and place a gentle kiss on his cheek. "Thank you."

And so we went to bed, with Jacob's arm wrapped around me and with my ear pressed to his heart. The sweet rhythm lulled me to sleep, and I never wanted the beautiful song it played to stop.

- - - - - - - - - -

My slumber was so deep that the next morning I barely heard the phone ringing. The buzz of a mosquito could be compared to the ring of the phone. They were both quiet, but equally as annoying. Heat flooded my tiny body and I welcomed the warmth. I was so cozy, wrapped up in blankets and curled next to Jacob, that I could almost ignore the phone. The ringing never seized, and as the bothersome sounds continued my annoyance grew. Why couldn't I just be left in peace?

"Jacob…" I grumbled out, my voice muffled since it was pressed to his chest. He didn't move at all, but he let a slight moan slip. "Jacob…the phone…"

"I don't care," He whined back, rolling towards me and wrapping me up in his large, steaming, protective grasp. All I could do was smile and snuggle closer. Whenever I was close to Jacob, and when the world would finally fall silent, the love I felt was overwhelming. The feeling wasn't overwhelming like water spilling over the top of a glass; no, it was more intense, more powerful. There was just no overwhelming scenario out there to describe my intense feeling. The feeling blossomed in my chest then fluttered to the rest of my body. I felt wonderful, loving the bliss I was in.

Until the phone rang.

"Jacob," I practically cried, holding onto him tighter. The aggravating sound didn't stop and made me burrow as close to Jacob as possible. I felt that if I could get close enough to Jacob that the phone would just disappear. Too bad that was a fantasy and not reality.

"That's it!" Jacob bellowed, flinging the comforter off and stomping down the hall. The cold air swept over my skin and startled me, making me wrap up in the comforter in a hurry. I curled up in a ball, my head barely sticking out of the heap of blankets, and attempted to warm myself up. The blankets couldn't do as good of a job as Jacob did. All the wolves were walking heaters.

Slowly I began to doze off, my body chilled, but comfortable. My thought wandered to the wonderful times I had so far with everyone, before I fell into a light sleep. Things were peaceful…calm…safe at the moment. Those feeling distracted me from the dangerous future that lay ahead. Hunters were still out there, always imminent in our lives, but I couldn't help but let the positive emotions block that out. Letting emotion take over like I was was dangerous, but I couldn't stop them.

"Athena, that was Leah. Apparently she's planned a shopping today, and says you have no choice in the matter but to go. I say otherwise though, so you can stay home," Jacob said, crawling into bed and wrapping himself around me.

"Shopping?" I asked, unable to rein in my excitement. I had never really gone on a shopping trip with friends before.

"Yeah, she said she'd be here…9:15. That's too early…"Jacob mumbled, burrowing his face into my neck.

"It's 8:30 now! I have to get ready!" I said excitedly, throwing the covers off and jumping over Jacob. He just groaned and went back to sleep. I ignored him and dashed for the shower, washing myself with scorching hot water as fast as possible. In my rush I had forgotten my clothes and dashed to my closet in a towel, glad that Jacob had gone back to sleep. I grabbed a pair of dark washed jeans, and a plain V-neck light green shirt that had a nature design all over. I quickly tugged the clothes on and went back to the bathroom.

Leah and Kim had gotten me makeup before, but I wasn't a big fan of all the different products, so I just applied somea mascara. When I had finished I looked myself over and decided I wanted to do something different with my hair. Emily got me a flatiron, so I let it heat up while I brushed my teeth. The iron was taking awhile to warm up, so I went back to my closet and put on a pair a purple converse. Even though the weather wasn't horribly cold, I decided to grab a black and gray plaid, double-breasted coat. The jacket was cute and bought for me by Leah, when we had been wandering in and out of shops in Forks. The memory ended though when I heard my flatiron beep, announcing that the iron was hot.

A quick glance at the clock told me it was 9:06 and I hurried the best I could to straighten my hair. Surprisingly, my hair was easier to tame than I thought, and was straight in a matter of minutes. My hair was slick and shiny, but I decided I wanted to pull all of red flames back into a high pony; letting it hang down to the middle of my back. With a few minutes to spare, I looked myself over and felt good. I was never one to put in a lot of time into my appearance, but today I felt that I looked good, and that made me feel confident. So, with a large smile, I stepped out of the bathroom and grabbed my wallet even if there wasn't a whole lot of money in there.

"I'll see you later Jacob," I whispered in his ear, lightly placing a kiss on his cheek. When I turned to walk away he grabbed my wrist, stopping me. He was shaking his head back and forth when I turned to look at him, in attempt to make the sleepiness leave him. He was adorable, with his messy hair, and half awake expression.

"You look amazing, Athena," Jacob spoke, but a yawned escaped him and took away from his statement, somewhat.

"Thank you, but I have to go. They'll be here any minute," I told him, tugging on my wrist a little to emphasize my point. He just tugged me back, as if showing some sort of dominance and letting me know that he would let go when he wanted to. "Jacob…" I warned.

"Alright, have fun. Be careful though, please. I know Leah is with you, but that might not be enough, you won't have nature to speak to you," Jacob said in a voice that expressed his worry. All I did was smiley softly at him, and place my hands on the sides of his face, my fingers warming at the touch.

"My abilities aren't just speaking with nature, Jacob. You forget about my wisdom," I reminded him, placing a kiss on his forehead, "We'll be okay."

Someone pounded on the door before I heard the familiar creak of the door opening. "Athena!" Leah yelled, making me chuckle.

"Gotta go, but we'll be fine. See you later Jacob."

"Wait! Do you need money?" Jacob asked, practically jumping out of bed. At the rate we were going, I was never going to leave.

"I'm not going to take your money. Now go back to bed," I ordered with a laugh as I left him in the bedroom. There was chatter in the doorway that made me quicken my gate, and I was surprised when I was greeted by not only Leah, but Emily and Kim as well. Leah was trying to get along better with the pack, but I hadn't thought she would have invited Kim and Emily.

"Good morning, Athena. Are you ready to go?" Emily questioned with that friendly smile that she always wore. All I did was nod, and the next thing I knew I was being dragged out the door by Leah. She grumbled something about being slow, and started the car. She was silently patient as we all buckled in before tearing out of the driveway. And then our day began as we headed for Seattle.

The entire drive we spoke animatedly, sang along with music, and took Leah's complaints in stride. Kim started out as her shy self before opening up, Emily stayed neutral if their there was an argument, Leah made sure there was some sort of argument, and I enjoyed every minute. I felt as if I was spending the day with sisters or cousins, and I was elated with the feeling of family. We stopped at a Starbucks to get coffee, I got a hot chocolate, and then Safeway to gather a bunch of donuts to eat while we drove. Our group was, somewhat, divided though. Emily and Kim stuck together, while Leah and I stayed together. We were all most comfortable with the combination, but included each other when the time called for it.

By the time we reached Seattle I felt that we had only been driving for five minutes, and became engrossed with all the buildings around. For almost my entire life I had lived on a reservation, and never in the city. The whole experience was new for me, and I loved everything about it.

Leah decided to take us to Seattle's Super Mall, where there were more shops than I could imagine. The place was huge. Kim, Leah, and Emily laughed at my enthusiasm, but happily followed me in. The mall was bustling with people the moment we stepped in, but the new sight wasn't a big enough distraction to stop me from noticing Emily becoming uncomfortable. People passing by would stare at her, and then hurry away while whispering. My gut wrenched at how horrible these people were with their obvious staring, and gossiping as they would walk away. Even when I wasn't being the one stared at I could feel Emily's pain, and knew she didn't blame Sam for one second.

"What are you staring at?!" Leah growled at a boy who had stopped walking to stare. The boy started to shiver at the approaching werewolf, who had a look of death on her voice. His moment of shocked quickly disappeared, and he was gone in the crowd within a second. After that Leah stayed close to Emily, growling and throwing insults at anyone who stared to long. The attention would then leave Emily and move to Leah, and the gratitude was clearly written on Emily's face.

We wondered in and out of shops, Emily staying close to Leah, while Kim and I made sure to pile the pair up with lots of clothes. A silent agreement seemed to pass between Kim and I, and we did everything we could to keep Emily and Leah close. The time together was good for them, and slowly that gap that was between them was disappearing through out the day.

We stopped in all the clothing stores, ranging from Hollister to Hot Topic, even if we were out of our teen years. All four of us just enjoyed trying on clothes and teasing each other when something looked ridiculous. The best moment was when we went into Victoria Secret. Leah, Emily, and I were all perfectly comfortable, but Kim was as red as a ripe tomato as we walked through the store. Leah was merciless with crude jokes, and throwing different articles of clothing at her. Even Emily turned beat red when Leah turned on her. With all the jokes though, Leah made sure both Leah and Kim left with a sexy teddy to show off to their boys. One could tell the girls felt good with their purchases, but that they were thoroughly embarrassed. I was horrified when the three of them then ganged up on me and made sure I bought something for Jacob, even I explained to them we were in the early stages of our relationship. They just replied with 'I don't care' or 'It'll happen eventually'.

Shopping for clothing had worked up an appetite, so we all went to Johnny Rockets. Leah ordered cheese fries, a rocket double, a chicken club sandwich, a chicken club salad, a super sundae, and a coke; basically her meal consisted of a lot of meat and sugar. Kim had a chicken club sandwich with no mayonnaise and a Dr. Pepper, and Emily ordered a Patty Melt, which was grilled onions on rye bread with American cheese. I decided to get a Philly Cheese Steak, this had thinly sliced steak that was grilled and topped with grilled onions and cheese, and decided on a root beer. The atmosphere of the restaurant was comfortable, and our fun time continued.

"Are you sure you're eating enough, Leah?" I questioned, watching as she ate her third hamburger. People at other tables around us were gawking, and I couldn't stop myself from laughing at their expressions. "When you get a boyfriend what is he going to think of all the food you eat?"

"He's gonna thank god that he was graced with my lovely presence and large appetite," She responded with a glare, dipping a handful of fries in ketchup.

"I'm still not use to your appetites. It shouldn't be possible to eat that much food," Kim voiced, stopping halfway from taking a bite as she watched Leah down an entire milkshake. She almost seemed awestruck as she watched.

"I don't mind the food…I hate the dishes," Emily grumbled, finishing off her sandwich, and working on the left over fries.

"You should just make Sam order them to help you. I mean he has that power, and it's only right. You cook, they clean," Leah explained, making it seem like the idea was plain as the sun that raised every day, "Use your imprint powers and get him to make the mutts do the dirty work."

"I would feel bad making the boys do something they didn't want to. Plus-"

"Do they want to eat?" Leah asked, interrupting Emily.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Then they can clean the dishes, or you can make Sam invest in a dishwasher," Leah stated, focusing back on her food and ending the discussion. All Kim and I could do was laugh at the pair. Leah seemed the type to use power, while Emily was the one who wanted to refrain from using it.

"All the guys have jobs, just get them to pitch in for a dishwasher. If you don't want to ask, Emily, Leah and I could talk to them," I offered, wanting to help Emily but making sure everyone still got fed with her wonderful cooking.

"Why are you trying to get us to do her dirty work?"

"You just told me to get Sam to do my dirty work!" Emily retorted, looking exasperated. Kim and I started coughing in attempt to rein in our laughter.

"That's 'cause he's a man. We're women, and family, so that goes against the code."

"What code?" Kim asked, voicing the confusion Emily and I were now feeling. This conversation was now turning into a totally different direction.

"You know how the guys have a code?" We nodded, "Well girls have a code. And getting another female to do your dirty work goes against the code."

Leah continued to munch on her food while the rest of us sat in silence, trying to remember ever hearing about a code. "I'm confused now," I stated, looking to Emily and Kim who agreed.

"Doesn't matter. We don't go against the code," Leah retorted, stealing fries from our baskets. Our conversation went back to normal as we discussed the boys, work (at least for those who had jobs), and past memories. Leah, Kim, and Emily heard some of my life story, but not to the extent that Billy and Jacob got.

"Do you guys mind if we stop at a craft store, so I can get art supplies?" Kim questioned towards end of our meal. We all agreed and wondered around the mall wondering in and out of shops looking for supplies for Kim, and discussing anything that came up. We stopped at Justice: Just for Girls to get some new clothes for Claire, and Emily told us all about how attached Claire had become to Ace. I was glad to hear my friend was doing well, and hadn't been eaten by anything. There was a rivalry between the hare and Quil for Claire's attention, but I had confidence in my stubborn friend.

Eventually the day was gone and we piled back into our car with all our bags. Kim practically had a panic attack when Leah almost threw her new canvases into the trunk. Leah just laughed Kim's panic attack off and placed her supplies gently in the back, and where they wouldn't slide. Our drive home was peaceful with only a stop at McDonalds, and we all relaxed to the sound of music. That didn't last long for me.

_A life lost…is a life gained…_My wisdom spoke. Instantly Jacob's warning moved to the front of my mind, but I had to force that memory back to think. My wisdom would have been more aggressive and persistent if their there was a threat around us. A thought crossed my mind and my heart practically flew from my chest.

"Stop the car!" I yelled, making Leah swerve in surprise. Cars around us honked their protest as we pulled over, where Leah turned around and sent me a deadly glare.

"Why are we on the side of the road?" Leah growled, her body quivering with her anger. If I hadn't of been distracted with what I was trying to find out I would have been afraid of her.

"Kim, are you sleeping with Jared?"

There was nothing but silence. The three girls in the car turned redder than the reddest rose. The practically made the car light up with how red they got.

"You've got to be kidding me," Leah stated, staring at me like I was crazy.

"Why is this relevant?" Kim squeaked, scooting away from me as far as possible in the back seat.

"Athena…" Leah warned, getting a handle on her embarrassment.

"My wisdom talked to me, so back off Leah. Kim, answer the question," I spoke sternly.

"No, I haven't slept with Jared," Kim responded, leaving me without question of her answer.

"Then Emily you're pregnant," I stated, sitting back in my seat and waiting for a reaction. Again, I got nothing but silence.

"Oh my god," Kim and Leah said together. Emily just stared at me as if she had seen a ghost, her skin a pale white.

"That's not possible…I mean…I can't…this isn't right…" Emily rambled, becoming incoherent to the rest of us. All I did was watch as Emily tried to deny she was pregnant while Kim and Leah interrogated her typical pregnant questions. I trusted what my wisdom had told me, but they didn't. So they headed to the first store that would have a pregnancy test. The three of them rushed into a market, disappearing before I was even out of the car. I had thought that Leah would have been resentful of the news, but she seemed to be excited for Emily.

As I walked into the store, receiving a look from one of the cashiers, I watched the girls take their purchased product back the restroom. They piled into the bathroom, while I wondered up and down aisles. After about five minutes I heard a squeal and made my way over to the bathrooms. Kim and Leah were jumping up and down with Emily in their arms. Emily was in a stunned state and didn't take full participation in the celebration.

"Leah, Kim, can you guys wait out in the car for a moment?" I asked, giving them a look. Kim left quickly, but Leah was reluctant to leave just yet. It seemed her protective nature of the day was still present even now. Who knew if this side of her would go away after today?. She left after staring me down and followed Kim. "Emily, are you okay?"

She looked at me for about twenty seconds before tears streamed down her face. In an instant I had her wrapped in my arms, rocking her back and forth. Her arms held me close, her fingers digging into my back, and I knew she was scared. I knew she was scared of the future, and the timing of the pregnancy, but after awhile she would become elated with having a child, especially a child that was Sam's. "Athena…what am I going to do? I don't…I mean…" Emily hiccupped out. This was a side of Emily the rest of the pack never saw. They always came to her with their problems, now her time for someone to support had come and she wasn't used to that.

"You are going to raise a beautiful baby with the best husband. The pack will take care of you, the imprints will help you, and you'll begin your life of family with Sam. Emily, don't stress yourself out. We are all going to be here for you," I told her, holding her close and letting her bury herself as close to me as possible.

"Athena…you have done so much. I know it's selfish but…will you help me through this?" she asked in such a sincere voice that not even the deadliest of vampires could tell her no.

"I will be with you every step of the way, and if my wisdom says anything else about your child I'll let you know. Alright?" She nodded her reply, pulling away and wiping her tears away, "Ready to go?"

I went to pull her with me, but she didn't move. With a questioning look, I looked back at her. "Leah and I used to be close, which I'm sure you've heard from her, but we can never go back to that. Before, in a situation like this, I would have Leah help me but…Athena, would you be there when I tell Sam?"

Pride swelled within my chest, and I became ecstatic that she would ask such a thing. "Of course, but Sam is going to be that happiest man this world has ever seen, trust me. I'll be there with you, but I'm sure you won't need me."

"Thank you," Emily whispered, and pulled me close for a hug. This woman was the sweetest thing I had ever met, and had a motherly air to her. I didn't feel like she was a mother to me though, I felt like she was more of a sister. Maybe I felt this because I loved the mother I had so much, but I was ready to help her in anyway possible. With this in mind we went back to the car, heading home and back to our boys.

**Please review! Tell me what you like or don't like about this chapter. Thank you!!!**


	17. Author's Note

**I know an apology won't make up for my lack of a new chapter, but you deserve and explanation. The biggest problem is that I've lost a lot of chapters and haven't been able to find them or rewrite them. It's also summer time and I've spent a majority of my time outside. I swear I'll do the best I can to have a chapter up soon, and I apologize for the time period where you haven't gotten an update. I hope I haven't lost to many readers and reviewers, and I hope I will be able to make it up to you.**

**Again, Sorry!**

**Electrogirl88**


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